Originally Posted by brian dromey
At the time the airport was designed Aer Lingus was by far the largest airline and still had a lot of influence. Ryanair was a small, regional airline with a few 737-200s and grandiose plans, but nothing else. Aer Lingus wanted air bridges, which forced Aer Rianta into a new terminal rather than an extension and refurbishment of the existing terminal. Between the sod being turned and the airport opening a lot changed, so some revisions were made to accommodate airlines wanting to use steps, nit air bridges as they previously wanted. As I understand it the airport was designed to deliver exactly what airlines initially asked for. 4 air bridge gates and 4 gates for non-airbridge users, to accommodate mainline, low-cost and regional operations.
As I have said, the building is not a problem, the airlines using it are.
On the contrary Brian, imo, as a passenger, the building is very much the problem !
We've gone from the old terminal where the passenger wasn't forced up a number of flights of stairs, to a supposedly better terminal where 99% of passengers have no choice but to climb the stairs.
Having 4 air bridge gates is damn all use when only one of them have airbridges, and I would also ask the question are airlines charged for using airbridges in all other airports ?