As much as 84 per cent of companies in Dublin support the removal of the 32-million-person passenger cap at Dublin Airport, according to new data from the Dublin Chamber of Commerce, with close to two-thirds strongly supporting its removal.
“The view is the cap is an artificial breaker on the growth of Dublin Airport,” said head of public affairs for Dublin Chamber Stephen Browne. The cap at Dublin Airport was introduced in 2007.
The Dublin Chamber Business Outlook Survey for the fourth quarter shows access to the international airspace is important for 80 per cent of businesses.
Out of this group, 34 per cent of businesses said it was extremely important to their business to be able to access international airspace.
According to the survey, 68 per cent of businesses see Europe as a key market for Dublin. Britain was important for Dublin businesses with 58 per cent saying it was a market destination. Just over two in five businesses said that North America was an important market for their company.
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Mr Browne said businesses were glad to see this issue in the manifestos of both Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael in November. However, he said, responsibility of the airport was no longer a local issue for Fingal County Council.
“We believe that the airport primarily is not just a piece of infrastructure for Dublin. It’s a piece of infrastructure for the whole of the county and it should be classed as a piece of national strategic infrastructure,” he said.
A large number of businesses shows it “needs to be of high importance to the government when they take office”, he added.
According to the survey, 38 per cent of businesses see Europe as their biggest emerging market. Just under one in five companies (18 per cent) see North America as their biggest emerging market while 15 per cent of businesses say Britain is their largest emerging market.
Some 250 businesses took part in this survey, covering a wide range of different kinds of businesses across Dublin such as the financial sector, making up 18 per cent of respondents and the information and communications sector making up a further 11 per cent.
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