Dublin Airport Authority has awarded the main construction contract for the new runway to a joint venture comprising Irish firm Roadbridge and Spanish firm FCC Construccion.
Work on the 3.1km strip will begin immediately and is due for completion in 2021.
The contract includes building 306,000sqm of new runway and taxiways, and 6km of new internal airport roads, as well as installing 7.5km of electrical cable, and more than 2,000 new runway and taxiway lights.
North Runway will be built at no cost to the State – as daa is not funded by the taxpayer – and according to the daa will support the creation of 31,200 new Irish jobs and €2.2 billion in additional economic activity by 2043.
A sticking point is the planning restriction around night flights which is expected to be addressed once new noise regulation legislation is passed.
Neighbouring residents are vehemently opposed to lifting the restriction.
Meanwhile daa, which is not funded by the taxpayer, has started formal consultations on €900 million capital investment plan to help the airport grow to 40 million passengers a year.
This €900 million investment programme will deliver new boarding gate areas, aircraft parking stands and many other significant improvements.
