THERE'S bad news for travellers from Northern Ireland who fly out of Dublin Airport - car parking charges have been increased significantly.

The charges at Dublin have been increased, says the Airport, "in order to support a significant investment in refurbishing, automating and extending the Airport's extensive car park network."

The hourly charge for the short-term car parks adjacent to the airport terminal buildings have risen by 30 cent to €3. This is in line with the Dublin Airport Authority's (DAA) policy of linking its short-term car parking rates with those pertaining in Dublin city centre car parks. The daily charge for using the short-term car parks remains unchanged at €30.

Meanwhile the daily charge at Dublin Airport's various long-term car parks - used by most Northern Ireland travellers - has gone up by 50 cent to €8.50.

The Dublin Airport Authority says it plans to continue levying benchmarked commercial charges for its car parking services "in order to maximise the revenues available to the company in a tightly regulated environment and to finance significant ongoing investment in its car parking service."

During 2006 close to €10m will be invested to further enhance customer service standards at Dublin Airport's car parks. Investment at the short-term car parks will include a refurbishment

programme to deliver brighter, cleaner multi-storey blocs with new enhanced safety features; the development of a new coach park and passenger set-down area; and the provision of a new travelator to deliver passengers from the car park atrium to the appropriate levels in the terminal building. Investment in the long-term car parks will include the provision of an additional 3,000 spaces at Harristown bringing the overall number of long-term spaces available at peak travel periods to approximately 17,000. Plans are also at an advanced stage to deliver significant technology-based customer-service initiatives during 2006. These will include online

pre-booking and pre-payment options; credit and debit card payment facilities at exit barriers; and a licence plate recognition and new CCTV system to provide increased security for cars parked at the Airport.