Dublin airport opens - Tom Otley traces the 75-year history of Ireland's main gateway
This year Dublin airport celebrates its 75th anniversary. It opened on Friday January 19, 1940, and the first commercial flight was operated by an Aer Lingus Lockheed 14, heading for Liverpool.
Originally known as Collinstown, after the area north of Dublin city centre in which it is located, the area had been used as a British RAF base between 1919 and 1922 but had fallen into disrepair.
An aerial view of Dublin airport circa 1960
Work began on the site in 1937 as more land was acquired and site clearance commenced for the grass runways. Construction of the new terminal building started in the summer of 1938, its tiered structure echoing the form of a great ocean liner.
By 1947, flights departing from Dublin ventured as far as Europe, with KLM beginning the first continental service to the Irish capital. New concrete runways were completed in 1948 and 1950. After ten years of operation, the airport had been used by 920,000 passengers.
Today, Dublin airport handles more than 21 million passengers onboard 170,000 flights per year, operated by 58 airlines connecting Ireland to 161 destinations.
British Airways owner IAG may be bidding for Aer Lingus, but the focus of discussions concern the airline’s 23 pairs of Heathrow slots and guarantees to keep them focused on Irish routes for years to come.
It’s a concern echoed by the airport, which sees its historic and future mission as “Connecting Ireland to the World”.
