THE IRISH AVIATION (IAA) has proposed implementing a seat capacity limit of 25.2 million at Dublin Airport for the Summer 2025 scheduling season.

The Summer 2025 scheduling season will run from 30 March to 25 October.

The IAA is responsible for identifying and determining the capacity at Dublin Airport and setting the consequent parameters for slot allocation.

It said that in doing so, “the IAA is required to take account of all relevant technical, operational and environmental constraints”.

This includes a passenger cap of 32 million, as set out in the 2007 planning conditions for the development of Terminal 2 at Dublin Airport.

In a statement this evening, IAA said: “To take account of the capacity constraint represented by this planning condition, the IAA proposes to implement a seat capacity limit of 25.2 million seats for the Summer 2025 scheduling season.”

The proposal will make next summer’s scheduling season the second one in which a seat cap is implemented to take account of the 32 million passenger cap.

For Winter 2024, running from 26 October 2024 to 29 March 2025, the seat cap is 14.4 million.

IAA said this Summer 2025 proposal would result in a total seat capacity of 39.6 million across the two seasons.

“The seat cap is greater than the passenger cap as it takes account of expected load factors (how many passengers are expected on each flight relative to the total number of seats on the aircraft), and an adjustment for transfer passengers,” explained an IAA spokesperson.

The IAA added that it anticipates demand for slots for the Summer 2025 season “would significantly exceed the proposed seat cap”.

Air carriers who have operated a series of slots of five weeks or longer in the Summer 2024 season would be given priority.

The IAA added that, like Winter 2024, its proposal “would result in very little, if any, available capacity for new slot requests, or for ad hoc slot requests, for passenger flights using the capacity of Terminal 1 or Terminal 2 during the Summer 2025 scheduling season”.

It said this “flows as a consequence of the planning condition”.

The IAA said it has no power to “amend or revoke planning conditions” and that it is “not for the IAA to assess the merits or otherwise of the condition itself”. 

The IAA is holding a consultation on today’s draft decision, and has invited interested parties to make written submissions by email to consultation@iaa.ie by 26 September.

A final decision on the Summer 2025 capacity will be made next month.

The operator of Dublin Airport, DAA, said it will review the details of the proposal.

A spokesperson added that DAA “fully understand the disappointment that will be felt by the airlines already operating at Dublin who want to grow, and airlines that want to come here but can’t get slots”.

DAA CEO Kenny Jacobs said “we totally get that losing significant seats from the summer 2025 schedule has real consequences for airlines, people working at the airport and the travelling public, as well as knock-on impacts on tourism, jobs and the wider economy”.

He added that “we are between a rock and a hard place” and that this is “no longer just an airport or a planning issue, it is now an Ireland issue”.

He pointed to recent Fáilte Ireland figures which showed 53% of industry providers had fewer customers this summer than last.

“Airlines are allocating aircraft to other countries where they can grow,” said Jacobs.

He added: “We welcome efforts by the government to find a solution to the impasse while we wait for planning to lift the passenger cap to 40 million a year, which is in line with national aviation policy, the Fingal Development Plan and the Dublin Airport Local Area Plan.

“Until this happens, we have to support the IAA’s draft decision to cut seats despite the consequences for Ireland.”

A DAA spokesperson added: “As the Winter 2024/25 cuts did not go far enough to prevent terminal passenger numbers in 2024 exceeding the 32 million planning condition, DAA has asked the High Court to intervene, and the case will be heard on 3 December”.

Meanwhile, Ryanair CEO Michael O’Leary called on Transport Minister Eamon Ryan to “order IAA to approve additional slots for Dublin airlines in Winter 2024, and again in Summer 2025”.

O’Leary said this would allow Ryanair and other airlines “to add extra flights this Winter for Leinster Rugby matches, Lapland Santa Claus flights, and for Irish families returning home to Dublin at Christmas”.

He called the passenger cap “idiotic” and said that it was implemented “because of concerns in 2007 that road traffic around Dublin airport would collapse when traffic reached 32 million passengers”.

O’Leary said the proposal would cut Dublin Airport’s traffic by 1 million seats in Summer 2025.

“Irish tourism cannot afford to lose 1m visitors in Summer 2025 simply because Transport Minister Eamon Ryan has failed to act,” said O’Leary.

He added: “If Eamon Ryan won’t put Irish transport and Irish tourism first, then he should resign his Ministry and allow somebody competent to do the job.

“Alternatively, An Taoiseach Simon Harris should intervene and insist that the Government issues a Ministerial Direction to the IAA to allow Dublin Airport to continue to grow while the DAA and Fingal CoCo go through the planning process to scrap this idiotic 17 year old traffic cap.”