UK: Heathrow faces competition from Dublin

London Heathrow is to face more competition in the battle among Europe’s hub airports after Dublin said it would build a second runway by 2020. As the UK government continues to postpone a decision on whether to build a third runway at Heathrow, the announcement on Thursday by the Dublin Airport Authority will fuel the debate over whether London’s hub risks being further sidelined by the delay as rival airports move ahead with expansion plans. The announcement comes a year after Aer Lingus was bought by International Airlines Group. IAG owns British Airways, and as part of its takeover proposal it promised new routes and more long-haul flights from Dublin, where Aer Lingus is one of the two main airline customers, along with Ryanair. Willie Walsh, IAG’s CE, said at the time that the addition of Aer Lingus would allow IAG “to develop our network using Dublin as a hub between the UK, continental Europe and North America, generating additional financial value for our shareholders”. A big attraction for Walsh of buying the Irish carrier was the prospect that a second runway would be built in Dublin in the next few years, which he said was “inevitable”. IAG said on Thursday: “One of the advantages of IAG is that we can expand the group’s flights via Dublin or Madrid should there be no capacity increase in south-east England. A second runway in Dublin provides more opportunity to achieve this.” “of major strategic importance to Ireland”.<br/>