Dublin Airport was officially opened when an Aer Lingus Lockheed 14 aircraft departed Dublin for Liverpool on January 19, 1940. At the time it was known as Collinstown Airport, and it had just one flight a day to Liverpool whereas 70 years later Dublin Airport is a hive of activity, catering for an average 67,000 passengers every day.

Since it first opened for business 70 years ago, the airport has reached many milestones In the late 1930's planning and development began on a terminal building and grass runways at the Collinstown site. The architect of the terminal building was Desmond Fitzgerald, an older brother of former Taoiseach, Dr. Garret Fitzgerald. The curved design of the building mirrored  the lines of the bridge of a great ocean liner and as a result it won many architectural awards for its design. This original terminal building was designed to cater for just 100,000 passengers a year. Today the terminal is still partially used for daily passenger operations. Many of the internal design features of the building have been retained as a reminder of those early peaceful days of aviation.

By 1947 flights departing from the airport ventured as far as Europe, with Dutch airline KLM beginning the first continental service to Dublin. After ten years in operation, the airport had been used by 920,000 passengers and just over 248 million passengers have travelled through Dublin Airport since that first flight took off in 1940.

Work began in 1971 on a new terminal building to cater for an expected six million passengers annually. The airport has expanded and developed since then with another extension to the terminal building, a new runway and taxiways to cater for the ever-increasing demand for air travel.

The new Pier D boarding gate facility opened in October 2007, offering its passengers a transformed travel experience. In April 2009 an extension to Terminal One was opened radically improving the travel experience for passengers using the A and D boarding gates at the airport. The new facility provided more circulation space for passengers and  additional airside retail space and catering options for passengers.

Now engaged in a €2 billion capital development programme Dublin Airport will see the construction of a second terminal in 2010. The T2 project includes a new terminal building and departures gate area called Pier E. The development also includes a new energy efficient power plant and a major upgrade of the airport’s road network. With these new facilities Dublin Airport will be able to comfortably handle up to 35 million passengers per year and will create a vibrant modern airport that will be an efficient gateway to the Ireland of the 21st century.

Now that you know a little more  about this great airport why not book a  Dublin Airport Hotel with i Hotels Dublin Airport and be within easy access of both Dublin Airport and the City Centre.