Dublin Airport passenger cap ‘doesn’t make sense’, says Varadkar

The current Dublin Airport passenger cap “doesn’t make sense”, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has told the Business Post, and should be scrapped to avoid losing routes.

Speaking to the paper on a trade mission to Korea, the Fine Gael leader said he agreed with DAA chief executive Kenny Jacobs, who told Newstalk on Saturday the 32 million passenger cap annually, which is based on decades-old planning rules, needs to be lifted to 37 million passengers alone by 2030 just to keep pace with the country’s population growth.

Mr Varadkar said, “There is a real risk that if we cap flights at Dublin Airport at 32 million, we will lose routes or we won’t get new routes that we would otherwise have got. They won’t go to a different airport in Ireland, they’ll go to a different country.”

DAA, the State company that operates the airport, opened talks last month with airlines over an increase in passenger numbers that has brought it near the 32 million limit in recent weeks. Mr Jacobs said DAA would lodge a new application with Fingal County Council in a “number of weeks” that will allow the airport “grow beyond 40 million [passengers annually] in the coming decade and beyond”.

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Government to fully exit AIB within two years

The State is on track to fully exit its ownership of AIB within the next two years, the Sunday Times reported, realising billions of euros in the process.

Market sources told the paper the Government could place another 5 per cent of its stake as early as this week to take advantage of the lender’s relatively strong position after its most recent profit guidance.

AIB now expects its net interest income to top €3.75 billion – €150 million higher than its previous guidance, it said in a trading statement last week.

A 5 per cent placing this week could raise as much as €545 million at its current €4.17 share price, on top of the €1 billion the Government has already earned from its stake over the past 12 months.

Sales of supercars unaffected by cost-of-living crisis

Sales of so-called supercars costing more than €100,000 are on the rise in the Republic despite the sharp rise in the cost of living over the past two years, the Mail on Sunday reported.

Figures released by the Department of Finance reveal sales of luxury vehicles increased from 850 in 2021 to 1,112 last year. With some 998 cars in this category sold so far in 2023, the total could rise to just under 3,000 this year, an increase of almost 350 per cent.

Against this backdrop, the Labour Party is calling for a new tax on environmentally unfriendly SUVs, which are also becoming increasingly popular.

Maurice Regan presses ahead with Barne Estate deal

A legal row over the sale of Barne Estate near Clonmel, Co Tipperary will reach the High Court on Monday where billionaire John Magnier is seeking to enforce a €15 million deal for the property he alleges was agreed over a handshake.

Magnier’s case is against the owners of the stately home, which sits on 751 acres of farmland in the Golden Vale. The owners, who have been associated with the property since 1654, say Mr Magnier was outbid for the property by construction mogul Maurice Regan, who offered a figure in the region of €20 million, the Business Post reported.

Mr Regan is reportedly pressing ahead with plans to acquire the historic home and lands despite the legal action, working until late last Friday to attempt to sign a deal.

McKillens to retain 20% of hotel portfolio

Paddy McKillen Jnr and his business partner Matt Ryan have agreed to retain a 20 per cent stake in the portfolio of hotels they sold to a UK chain, the Sunday Times reported.

The announced the sale of a majority stake in the Dean Hotel Group – which includes the Dean, the Mayson, Clarence, Devlin and soon-to-open Leinster hotels in Dublin as well as the Dean Cork, the Dean Galway and the Glasson Lakehouse in Co Westmeath – for a figure reportedly in the region of €400 million.

Under the terms of the deal, the hotels will continue to be operated by Mr McKillen’s and Mr Ryan’s ubiquitous Press Up group, with the businessmen and their partners, including Paddy McKillen Snr, retaining a one-fifth stake in the portfolio.