Daa declines to appeal decision blocking car park purchase near Dublin Airport
The Daa said Dublin Airport's car parks 'are fully sold out this Easter weekend'.
The Daa has admitted defeat and said it will not be appealing the decision from the consumer watchdog blocking its purchase of a car park near Dublin Airport, as the process “would take years” and passengers “cannot wait that long”.
Easter weekend is set to be a busy one at Dublin Airport with all car parks sold out. Daa, which runs Dublin and Cork airports, said there is an “urgent need” to alleviate the strain already being placed on the facilities at Dublin Airport.
Last week, the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC) blocked the Daa from purchasing the car park near Dublin Airport over concerns it would lead to higher prices for customers.
“Our investigation found that this deal would eliminate Daa’s only significant competitor for public car parking serving Dublin Airport and result in Daa essentially having a near monopoly,” CCPC chairperson Brian McHugh said.
A QuickPark-branded car park had operated on the site before closing in September 2020 during the pandemic. Daa currently owns and operates all other large car parks serving Dublin Airport.
In a statement last week, it said it was disappointed and baffled at the CCPC’s ruling and claimed it was bad news for passengers.
Daa had the option of appealing the commission’s decision to the High Court within 40 working days, but said Friday it had chosen not to exercise this option.
“[The Daa] has made the decision following careful review of the CCPC's judgement and in the interests of getting the facility's 6,200 spaces back on the market for passengers in time for summer,” it said.
“There is an urgent need for more parking spaces at Dublin Airport and Daa now calls on the owners of the QuickPark site and any other potential bidders to act speedily to get the facility back open for consumers and to alleviate the significant strain that's on Dublin Airport's car parks — all of which are fully sold out this Easter weekend.”
It said allowing it to own the former QuickPark facility would’ve been a good result for consumers and would’ve lowered prices for the travelling public.
“While Daa sees merit in an appeal of the CCPC decision, the expectation is that any appeals process would take years, and our passengers cannot wait that long for these spaces to come on the market,” it added, while calling for the prompt delivery of projects such as BusConnects and the Metrolink to enhance connectivity to the airport.
