Minister wants more flights at Cork and Shannon to ease passenger cap pressure on Dublin Airport

The 32 million passenger cap has been in place for 17 years and will be exceeded this year

The 32 million passenger cap has been in place for 17 years and Dublin airport operator Daa has warned it will be exceeded this year.

It is extraordinary that no agencies or airlines raised concerns about the passenger cap until two years ago, the Minister of State at the Department of Transport has said.

The 32 million passenger cap has been in place for 17 years and Dublin airport operator Daa has warned it will be exceeded this year.

A back and forth between the Daa and Fingal County Council about increasing the cap to 40 million a year has been ongoing since November 2023. A three-month extension was granted last month to allow the Daa to submit additional information.

James Lawless said there was "a delay of 17 years in terms of applying to lift the cap". The slots for the rest of 2024, including over Christmas, are "good to go" and scheduled flights will not be affected, he said.

Looking beyond this year and into summer 2025, Mr Lawless said that if a planning decision still has not been reached then the regulator should look to other Irish airports to take any applications for additional flights. He said that Shannon Airport is "crying out for more passengers".

"Shannon, in particular, 40% of the population of Ireland is within the hinterland. Why are people getting on a bus or into a car in Clare, Limerick or Tipperary to go to Dublin?" Mr Lawless asked on RTÉ Radio 1's News at One.

The Minister of State said he would immediately send two million passenger slots to Cork and three million to Shannon as they have that capacity right now.

While it is the preferred outcome that the passenger cap at Dublin Airport be lifted, Mr Lawless said that it is common sense to ask why airlines are not using the available capacity that exists at other airports in the country.

He said

It is not sustainable or desirable that 86% of flights in and out of Ireland go through one airport.

Mr Lawless also said that the decision on the noise quota, which is related to the passenger cap, is overdue having sat with An Bord Pleanála for the last two years.

For the past couple of months, Mr Lawless said he has been told that the decision is "imminent" but there is still no sign.

"I would encourage them to arrive at their decision and communicate it. Perhaps it has already been reached but has not been published but that is part of the bigger picture," he said.

While Mr Lawless said he would not interfere with a planning process, he said that it is reasonable to suggest that after two years a decision should be made.