Dublin lost 12 new routes and four new based aircraft because of the passenger cap, Michael O’Leary, CEIO of Ryanair, told a press conference in Dublin.
O’Leary deliver a characteristically brusque demand that politicians intervene to introduce emergency legislation if necessary to lift the cap until planning issues are revealed, through emergency legislation if necessary, beside cut outs of tourism minister Catherine Martin and transport minister Eamon Ryan wearing dunces’ caps.
None of 80 new routes Ryanair plans to operate this summer will include Dublin, he said. Cork will get one new route and the airline is planning to grow at Shannon and Knock.
He said Ryanair is considering mounting a legal challenge to the passenger cap of 32m, imposed as part of the planning conditions for T2 back in 2007. He said said any court action would be slow and sought more immediate action from Government to either temporarily suspend the Dublin cap or pass legislation to overturn it, which would in effect have to remove the decision on airport capacity from falling under the planning authority of the local Fingal County Council.
Transport Minister Eamon Ryan and Tourism Minister Catherine Martin should resign if they could not facilitate this: “grow or ‘go.”
