Sir, - There appears to be a misunderstanding about the route that aircraft take to Dublin Airport. All aircraft coming into Ireland do, of course, come in over the sea. But, as anyone living in North Dublin will tell you, they then fly over houses, roads, schools, industrial estates and the increasing number of long-term car parks servicing the airport.
Many passengers are business people, perhaps visiting companies in the Naas Road, Tallaght, Leixlip and surrounding areas. Many tourists get off the plane, hire cars and drive to the M50 and then down the Naas Road or the Lucan road. How much better if they could land at Baldonnel.
I have no doubt that the runways at Dublin Airport can cope with increased numbers of landings. The problem is the airport's capacity to handle the passengers, the capacity of the roads to carry the passengers to and from the airport and the need for so many passengers to travel through the congestion that surrounds the airport. I have no doubt that we'll be told that the airport can handle many more people than it already does. As a regular flyer I find that it is already a horrible airport to use. But then Aer Rianta, along with many residents of the southside, has its own reasons for not wanting a second airport.
While I sympathise with the fears of those on the southside that they could be hit by jets falling from the sky, those on the northside are hardy enough to take their chances. Or maybe the noise is the real worry? - Yours etc.,
Garry Clarke, Spricklestown, The Ward, Co Dublin.