Airlines fear the aviation regulator will cut Dublin Airport passengers by up to one million next summer to comply with a planning limit imposed on Ireland’s biggest gateway, according to Ryanair.
Passenger numbers were capped at 32 million in 2007 as a condition of allowing the airport to open a second terminal.
Ryanair predicted on Friday that the cap could prompt the Irish Aviation Authority (IAA) to cut summer 2025 passenger numbers by up to a million in order to ensure the airport complies with the condition.
“Any such reductions will damage Irish tourism and jobs, and will lead to much higher fares for passengers and Irish families going on holidays in 2025,” said the airline as it called on Government to scrap the limit.
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The IAA said it had made no decision relating to next summer. However, the authority is preparing to publish a draft decision early next month on the allocation of take-off and landing slots from March to October.
That could propose limiting carriers to a total of 25.2 million seats over the seven-month period, which industry figures agree would be a reduction of about a million on this summer.
The authority said airport operator DAA tabled the 25.2 million seat limit at a recent meeting of a co-ordination committee that advises the IAA on slot allocation.
The figure is based on the existing seat limit of 14.4 million that the IAA has imposed on airlines for the winter months – October to March – to ensure compliance with the overall 32 million cap.
That committee, which DAA chairs, and whose members include Ryanair, Aer Lingus and other carriers, will finalise its advice on this and other issues to the IAA at a meeting later this month, an authority statement said.
“The IAA will consider this advice and expects to then publish a draft decision in early September, which will be the first time that the IAA will make any suggestion or proposal in relation to capacity for summer 2025,” the authority added.
Michael O’Leary, Ryanair chief executive, called on the “wider Government” led by Taoiseach Simon Harris to scrap the outdated 32 million passenger cap since Minister for Transport Eamon Ryan had failed to act.
Mr Ryan has said several times that he cannot interfere directly in the planning process.
The Ryanair chief argued that the 32 million cap was outdated and defective. He pointed out that it was imposed to tackle concerns about road access to Dublin Airport.
“It is clear that this concern is no longer valid and since road traffic is not an issue, Minister Ryan should instruct the IAA to ignore this 17-year-old cap,” he declared.
Mr O’Leary pointed out that Dublin Airport had recently added a second runway, giving it the capacity to handle up to 60 million people a-year.
Aer Lingus and Ryanair already plan to challenge the 14.4 million winter limit in the High Court. They could also challenge any limit imposed for next summer, particularly as that may lead to the loss of some of their take-off and landing slots at the airport.
Separately, the DAA is taking its own case against the IAA’s winter season ruling. The airports company has also sought permission from Fingal County Council to increase the 32 million cap to 40 million.
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