The High Court has set a December date for the hearing of a dispute over a decision of the Irish Aviation Authority (IAA) to limit passenger numbers in Dublin Airport for the coming winter season.
In May, the IAA announced that it would be imposing a seat cap of some 14.4 million passengers in Dublin Airport for winter during the period commencing on October 27th, 2024, and ending March 29th, 2025.
The Dublin Airport manager, the DAA, and Aer Lingus and Ryanair, brought separate High Court challenges to that decision seeking that it be set aside.
On Wednesday, Ms Justice Niamh Hyland said the cases could be heard next December.
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The judge said she had heard submissions from the IAA saying there should be a hearing at the end of November given that the summer 2025 passenger numbers decision was due on October 3rd.
The DAA argued it should be heard sooner on the basis that the decision would negatively impact on them from the end of October until March next, she said.
Ryanair and Aer Lingus argued the matter was not as urgent as suggested because the IAA decision on the summer 2025 passenger numbers would likely lead to another legal challenge, the judge said.
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Therefore, the airlines argued, the winter and summer challenges should be heard together.
The judge said the only application before the court related to the winter 2024 decision made on May 7th.
All she could do was give a date and give directions in relation to that matter but the judge said she could take account that the summer 2025 decision was coming down the line.
There were many moving parts to what were three complicated cases, including that there could be an appeal, or that there may be an application of a referral to the EU Court of Justice, she said.
It would take four days to hear these challenges, the courts’ long vacation (August and September) was coming up, and the judge who hears the case would have to spend some considerable time after that preparing a judgment, she said.
She agreed with a suggestion of the IAA that she should set a date for the existing challenge but also “leave some room” to allow a further challenge (on the summer 2025 decision) to be slotted in.
She set December 3rd for the hearing.
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