Dublin to build second runway as traffic passes pre-crisis peak

DUBLIN, April 7 (Reuters) - Dublin Airport has revived a plan shelved during the financial crisis to build a second runway after the number of passengers using the country's largest airport rose 15 percent to a record high last year.

Planning permission for the three kilometre runway was secured in August 2007 at the peak of Ireland (Other OTC: IRLD - news) 's economic boom, before a banking crisis led to international bailout.

Dublin Airport said in a statement the second runway would be completed by 2020 and cost 320 million euros ($364 million).

Ireland has been the fastest growing economy in the European Union for the past two years. A weak euro helped push the number of tourists visitng the country to an all-time high last year and 25 million passengers used Dublin Airport.

British Airways owner International Airlines Group (IAG) has said the ability to create a hub at Dublin Airport, where passengers bound for the United States can clear U.S (Other OTC: UBGXF - news) . immigration, was a key factor in its decision to buy Irish airline Aer Lingus last year.

The airport is also the main base of Ryanair, Europe's biggest airline measured by the number of passengers.

($1 = 0.8792 euros) (Reporting by Conor Humphries; editing by David Clarke)