SPORTS FANS MAY find it even harder to secure a seat on flights to big sporting events this year as the regulator seeks to keep passenger capacity within planning limits. 

Aer Lingus has accused the Irish Aviation Authority (IAA) of discriminating against it frequently uses ad-hoc flight slots that can be highly profitable.

Ad-hoc slots during the winter season are usually used for Christmas flights to Lapland, or to high profile sporting events such as the Six Nations Championship, international soccer fixtures and the Cheltenham festival, among other events.

Extra flights are also added during school mid-term breaks.

Now the IAA wants to enforce a limit of 14.4 million passenger going through Dublin Airport between October 2024 and March 2025. This is to stay within the allowed annual number of passengers, which is 32 million. 

In a letter to Adrian Corcoran, a director in the IAA, Aer Lingus wrote that the decision  to reduce the number of ad-hoc flights out of the airport would have an “immediate and material impact”.

It would “likely have a significant impact on the availability of ad-hoc slots which have historically formed a core part of the Aer Lingus flying programme”.

It estimates that these extra flights planned for winter 2024 will account for around 2% of the airline’s Dublin capacity. They are “particularly profitable”, given the high demand – and generally higher ticket prices.

Aer Lingus also argued that ad-hoc flights increase airport efficiency as they are sometimes “used to facilitate scheduled services where the historic times are not available”.

The IAA has stressed that it is not for it to decide on the precise meaning and effect of “ambiguous or disputed planning conditions”, but rather that it is a matter of law “to be determined by objective interpretation, and may ultimately be decided only by a court”.

“We note the submissions from Aer Lingus and Ryanair on the impact the PATM seat cap is expected to have on their operations and on consumers,” it said.

“However, such impacts flow from the 32 [million passengers per annum] conditions themselves, rather than our taking account of them in the [winter 2024] capacity declaration.

“We have no power to amend them,” it said, adding that it is therefore not for the IAA to comment on.

‘Between a rock and a hard place’

The 32-million passenger cap dates back to 2003 and has proven increasingly controversial  among airlines and daa, the Dublin airport authority.

In December, daa applied to increase the limit to 40 million passengers, but it awaits approval. 

It says the current limit impacts Ireland’s “ability to create jobs and economic growth”.

“Daa is doing everything it can to comply with the planning cap pending the outcome of the IA,” it said.

“Daa has taken away significant growth incentives for airlines, brought proposals to reduce ad hoc (unscheduled) movements (flights), and asked some charter carriers to fly to other airports instead.”

CEO of daa, Kenny Jacobs, said: “Dublin Airport is caught between a rock and a hard place.

“We want to continue to connect Ireland with the world, but we are also trying to comply with planning condition, even if the condition is less relevant then when decided almost 20 years ago.

“Pending the approval of our application to increase our passenger numbers to 40 million a year, we are making every effort to restrict growth to stay within the cap.”

Jacobs added that daa will continue to work with the IAA to make sure any reductions are “well managed”.