Dublin Airport owner DAA is starting a tendering process for enabling works at Dublin Airport to lay the groundwork for a five year programme of capital investment that's due to commence in September.
As reported by The Irish Independent, it is anticipated that the programme will cost up to €50 million, and it will include the construction of a new airside management unit, offices, and electricity and gas facilities, among other elements.
A tendering process for subsequent projects is planned to be rolled out in the coming months.
The programme will be divided into construction packages that the DAA will roll out when ready, and the decision was made to move ahead now in order to prepare Dublin Airport for "shovel-ready" projects for when passenger traffic starts to recover when the COVID-19 crisis ends.
The request for tenders is the first of a number of planned procurement processes at the DAA for long-term capital projects at Dublin Airport.
"A Twin-Track Approach"
The Irish Independent quotes a DAA spokesperson as saying, "We are adopting a twin-track approach to the Dublin Airport capital programme, whereby we intend to move forward with key activities such as procurement and planning as these do not require significant capital investment at this point.
"This approach takes account of current market conditions and will position Dublin Airport for when the upturn is in full swing and we need to progress future developments in order to meet the requirements of the Irish economy."
Keeping Delivery Timescale Under Review
The DAA also said that starting the procurement process while the COVID-19 pandemic is still impacting business will allow the company to achieve the best value on the contracts, but added that it is keeping the delivery timescale of its capital programme under review due to the pandemic, and that the scale, scope and timing of works could change from what will be set out in tendering documents.
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