MICHAEL O’LEARY IS not shy of keeping his opinions to himself and seems to revel in public conflict. Just ask Eamon Ryan.
So his comments on Dublin Airport’s passenger cap – which he has labelled as “stupid”, “bogus” and “idiotic” – would hardly shock many observers.
By why exactly is an issue that riles him like a passenger being charged for an extra bag at the boarding gate.
Here’s a rundown of the main points about Dublin Airport’s passenger cap, its impact and why it has caused such a fuss with airlines.
What is the cap?
The Dublin Airport cap is essentially in the name – it’s a limit on the number of passengers who can pass through the airport in a given year. The cap was set at 32 million per year in 2007 and hasn’t been changed since.
Why was it introduced?
In the mid-2000s, the business behind Dublin Airport applied for planning permission to build Terminal 2. Fingal County Council, the local authority for the area, gave the green light on the condition that there would be a 32 million passenger cap.
At the time, it seemed a relatively reasonable number, as it was well above the 23 million people who passed through Dublin Airport in 2007.
DAA, the company behind Dublin Airport, said the decision was “largely based on the limitations of the road infrastructure to and from the airport”. Major traffic jams on the outskirts of Dublin made congestion a major issue. Fingal County Council feared if the airport grew too big, it would cause gridlock for locals.
Environmental concerns around the emissions from increased flights have been raised more recently, but were not the primary reason why the cap was introduced in the first place.
What impact does it have?
The obvious one, as stated – there’s a hard limit on the number of people who can use the airport. This current year will likely be the first year the cap is breached, with an expected 33 million passengers passing through Dublin.
The Irish Aviation Authority, the state body effectively tasked with upholding the cap, has now drawn up a plan to stop this happening again. What this means in theory is that Dublin Airport should now stop growing. So no new routes, unless others were stopped. And no additional flights on existing routes – again, unless other flights were withdrawn somewhere else.
However, demand for air travel is expected to keep rising as the population grows.
Airlines say this means there will be more demand for the same number of seats – so prices paid by passengers will, they say, end up rising.
Why are airlines against it?
Any cap on growth is clearly bad from a private company’s point of view – it means there’s a limit on how much they can grow and how much money they can make.
Some examples of how this is working in practice: Ryanair says it wants to fly 7.5 million passengers over the upcoming winter season, but has only been allocated 6.4 million seats.
While this is bad news for Ryanair, the company is comparatively lucky. The Irish Aviation Authority has said that airlines that have operated at the airport in the past will be given priority over newcomers.
This means airlines which want to set up new operations in Dublin Airport, such as the likes of US carriers Delta and American Airlines, are effectively blocked.
What happens now?
The government has repeatedly said it isn’t able to do anything about the cap, as planning is handled by local councils.
DAA applied to Fingal County Council in December 2023 for the cap to be raised from 32 million to 40 million. It argues that the traffic concerns behind the cap’s introduction have since been addressed.
The local authority has still yet to make a final ruling.
However, even if Fingal County Council gives the green light, its decision would likely be challenged to the planning regulator.
Planning objections can easily take over a year to be dealt with. This means a new, higher cap may face significant delays being implemented.
If it seems like DAA should have applied for permission sooner because of the potentially lengthy planning process – well, the company itself has admitted that.
In the meantime, airlines say they are being unfairly constrained. Ryanair, Aer Lingus and some of the US airlines mentioned above, alongside the DAA, have brought a court case against the Irish Aviation Authority. They’re looking for an injunction which would block the plan to limit air traffic at Dublin.
The case is expected to be heard in December.
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