UCD spends more than €400,000 on business-class flights in six months

University College Dublin (UCD) spent more than €400,000 on business class flights in the first six months of last year, including more than €137,000 on air tickets to China, records show.

Overall, the south Dublin university spent €1.1 million on flights between January and July 10th, 2023, figures show.

In total, UCD paid €405,806 for business class flight tickets in the first half of the year, according to figures released to The Irish Times under the Freedom of Information Act.

A third of the figure was spent on flights to China, with a breakdown of invoices showing UCD paid for €137,200 in business class flight tickets, including several flights to Beijing which cost more than €5,000.

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The university also spent €120,800 on business class flights to Singapore and €38,300 on flights to Penang, Malaysia.

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Invoices show the university spent €2,147 on one business class flight to Milan last June. The largest single invoice was for €9,679 spent on a business class flight to Dublin, which did not detail the origin of the flight. Some €4,995 was spent on a business class flight to Buenos Aires in Argentina*, with another €4,484 flight to New York detailed in a list of invoices.

One source working in the university administration privately expressed concern at the recent high levels of spending on travel by staff.

The university operates three international colleges in partnership with Chinese universities, based in Beijing, Chang’an and Guangzhou. It also jointly runs a medical college in Penang, Malaysia, with the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland.

The university’s ties with China have been criticised by some UCD academics due to the Chinese Communist Party’s record on human rights and freedom of speech.

Over the last decade, UCD has focused increasingly on recruiting international students, who pay significantly higher college fees, as a means of making up a shortfall in State funding. About three out of 10 students on its Dublin 4 campus are international students from overseas.

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In a statement, UCD said it had a “comprehensive” travel policy that covered when staff should fly business class. “All applications for business class air travel must obtain the prior written approval of the Bursar or nominee, thus ensuring there is a solid business case each time,” it said.

The university said business class flights were generally only approved for staff “travelling long distances on university business”, which could include student recruitment or visits to one of its international colleges.

*This article was amended on January 15th, 2024

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