Dublin Airport is spending €10 million on a transformation of the Arrivals Hall and façade of Terminal 1, it has announced. Passengers that have passed through Dublin Airport's 44-year-old Terminal 1 in recent months could be forgiven a bit of confusion. Depending on when you last flew into or out of the terminal, you might have encountered the Departures road closed for essential maintenance, the phased redevelopment of its Loop shopping area, or new ATRS machines in the security lanes. It has very much been a terminal in transition. Now comes the announcement that the tiring Terminal 1 Arrivals Hall is to get a €10 million boost, with new flooring, a replacement ceiling and the removal of desks in some window areas to create a brighter, more spacious arrivals concourse.
Once complete, all restaurants will be located in one area while the Tourist Information Office, Bus, Travel and Information Desk will be grouped together to make the floor layout more user friendly and intuitive, the airport says. “Almost 400 million passengers have used Terminal 1 since it first opened for airport operations 44 years ago,” said Dublin Airport MD, Vincent Harrison. “The building has endured much wear and tear over that time and we are renovating it on a phased basis," he has said. "Our goal is to greatly improve the overall look and feel for our customers." Screens currently positioned in front of the Arrivals Hall exit doors will be removed so that customers meeting and greeting friends and family will have an unobstructed view as they come through from the baggage hall. More than 5.5 million passengers have travelled through Dublin Airport in the first three months of this year, a 17pc increase on the same period in 2015. The biggest construction of all is yet to come, of course, following last week's announcement that the Airport is to proceed with plans for a new parallel runway estimated to cost as much as €320m. It's set for completion by 2020.
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