Dublin Airport operator claims charges are 'too low' 

Meanwhile, daa’s chief financial officer Peter Dunne said he is seeing 'an element of consumer spending tapering off a little bit'

'If we have a modest increase in charges, all of that would go back into making the airport better for passengers,' said daa boss Kenny Jacobs.

Daa’s chief executive Kenny Jacobs suggested he remains committed to planned charge increases, which may fuel further tension between the airport operator and Ryanair.

Following the publication of its annual results, the Cork and Dublin Airport operator said charges “are too low” in Dublin when compared to airports in other European countries.

“If we have a modest increase in charges, all of that would go back into making the airport better for passengers,” said Mr Jacobs.

He also said the daa is “not able to respond to the airline demand to add more routes because of the cap at Dublin Airport”, while the regulated charges at Dublin are less than half the average of EU capitals.

“Some essential connectivity will be lost as airlines are already prioritising growth at hubs outside Ireland,” warned Mr Jacobs.

IAA ruling

Meanwhile, Ryanair welcomed the Irish Aviation Authority’s (IAA) regulatory ruling this week that Dublin Airport’s price increases do not comply with European regulations.

The ruling comes after Ryanair submitted a complaint last December to the watchdog about the daa’s planned price increase of more than 11% at Dublin Airport for this year.

Ryanair said the daa's decision forced it to move its 19 Gamechanger aircraft out of Dublin to other lower cost EU airports that incentivise growth of so called ‘greener’ aircraft.

Mr Jacobs said the daa may “tweak” airport charges down the line but a priority for the company remains attracting greener and less noisy aircraft to Irish airports through discounts. 

Mr Jacobs said the firm overall had a “very solid year” despite rising debt. Company debt has more than doubled pre-pandemic levels, totalling €1.6bn and the majority of this sum falls due between 2028 and 2032.

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The daa’s chief financial officer Peter Dunne added that additional debt funding is needed for “significant investment” into infrastructure that will accommodate growing passenger capacity across both airports as well as refinancing existing facilities.

The daa also posted more than €1bn in revenue for 2023. The milestone was reached as profit after tax and exceptional items climbed to €176m during the period, up 80% on the previous year as airports continued to benefit from post-covid pent-up demand.

Mr Dunne said he is seeing “an element of consumer spending tapering off a little bit” but he expressed more concern about lingering inflationary pressures in the construction sector which may hold up planned developments by the daa.