DUBLIN AIRPORT’S long-awaited second terminal is to open tomorrow – despite the decision by the United States’ customs and border patrol officers, who will occupy a new purpose-built facility, to delay their move.

The new €609m facility – which has been in construction for 25 months, and has vastly exceeded its original cost estimate of €200m – will be opened by Taoiseach Brian Cowen tomorrow, the Irish Times reports.

Aer Lingus will begin operating trial flights from the new facility almost immediately, ahead of moving its entire Dublin operations to the new terminal in the new year. Passengers on those flights, however, are still required to check in at the original Terminal 1.

The Aer Lingus delay has been partly caused by the decision of the US officers to delay their movement into new facilities, which will delay the full transfer of transatlantic flights into the new purpose-built terminal.

The customs facilities would mean that passengers would be pre-cleared to travel to the United States before boarding their flights, sparing them from immigration queues upon arrival.

When its operations open fully early next year, the terminal has the capacity for up to 15 million passengers – three times the number catered for by the original Terminal 1 before the addition of two new passenger piers.

Terminal 2 will also carry the entirety of flights by long-haul airlines from the United States and from Etihad airlines, who will operate the first scheduled flight from the new building next Tuesday.

Last year, the airport carried 20.5 million passengers – down by an eighth from the 2008 amount of 23.5 million.

The expense of the new terminal has been criticised by many – being famously dubbed a ‘white elephant’ by Ryanair chief executive Michael O’Leary – as well as Fine Gael’s transport spokesman Simon Coveney, who has criticised the publicity drive undertaken by the Dublin Airport Authority.

“This campaign is completely unnecessary and will be paid for by passengers,” he told the Times.