No seat cap planned for Dublin Airport winter season, says IAA

Draft decision by the IAA adds 14 departure, 16 arrivals, and increases the total limits by 32 per day

The IAA added that it will also increase the departures hourly limits for both Terminal 1 and Terminal 2. Pic: Niall Carson/PA Wire

The Irish Aviation Authority (IAA) has said it will not propose any seat cap for Dublin Airport's winter schedule, confirming that it "is not to take account" of certain planning conditions which limit the combined capacity of Terminal 1 and Terminal 2 to 32m annual passengers.

Publishing its draft decision on the airport's winter capacity, the IAA said it will follow the advice of the Coordination Committee, comprising Dublin Airport, AirNav Ireland and airlines operating at Dublin Airport, through implementing its ‘Wishlist’ hourly runway capacity limits. 

The wishlist involves a range of increases in the declared runway limits in the day hours, adds 14 departure, 16 arrivals, and increases the total limits by 32 per day.

The IAA added that it will also increase the departures hourly limits for both Terminal 1 and Terminal 2. Similar to summer 2026, the authority also proposes to introduce an hourly passenger US Preclearance processing limit in place of the previous referral parameter, in line with the Dublin Airport proposal.

The IAA noted that it was ordered by the High Court not to take account of the 32m passenger cap, pending the outcome of underlying judicial reviews of its Winter 2024 and Summer 2025 decisions.

"As a result, we do not propose to include a seasonal passenger air traffic movement (PATM) seat capacity limit for the W26 season," the authority said.

The draft decision from the IAA follows recent warnings from the chief executive of Airlines for America that Ireland could face “repercussions” from the Donald Trump administration over the Government’s failure to address the passenger cap at Dublin Airport quickly.

The limit has been suspended while a challenge — brought by Ryanair, Aer Lingus, and Airlines for America — works its way through the European courts.

Last year, Dublin Airport managed 36.4m passengers through its terminals.

In February, transport minister Darragh O’Brien announced that he had secured Cabinet approval to draft the Dublin Airport (Passenger Capacity) Bill 2026 which will provide him with the power to amend or revoke the passenger cap. 

Director general of the International Air Transport Authority Willie Walsh said last month that the cap needed to be addressed by September at the very latest. 

Speaking on its draft decision, the IAA said: "The proposed coordination parameters will support increased competition by allowing for up to 32 additional daily slots to be allocated by the independent slot coordinator, but without degrading the current service quality."