Ryanair CEO Eddie Wilson says that one-way fares on popular routes like Dublin to London could reach €500 if the passenger cap at Dublin airport is not addressed.
At a press conference in the IFSC he warned of likely fare increases at Dublin Airport this winter due to a cap on passenger numbers
Winter restrictions will prevent the airline from providing more than 1m seats at peak periods and special events.
Ryanair blamed DAA the airport operator for failing to apply for permission to increase cap earlier, indicating potential long-term impact on the airline’s operations.
The aviation regulator, the Irish Aviation Authority, recently capped the number of passengers who could use the airport over the coming winter season at 14.4m, the first time it has ever put a cap in place.
Ryanair’s Eddie Wilson said: “What normally happens in the winter is that you’ve extra aircraft that you can’t fly for the whole season so what you try to do is put in some of spare aircraft for peak periods. This will no longer be possible to do as a result of the passenger cap.
We put in approximately 300,000 extra seats on the London-Dublin route [last winter]over and above what we already have there. We can’t put in any of those year. If those 300,000 seats are not on sale, prices on the Dublin-London route are going to go through the roof at Christmas. Families or people at the last minute will be paying up to €500, we estimate.
Ryanair has already been forced to switch three aircraft ($300m investment), 16 new routes, and over 200 jobs to southern Italy for summer ‘24 which would have gone to Dublin but were blocked by the artificial traffic cap and also had to remove its enviro-friendly Boeing 8200 aircraft (that reduce CO2 emissions by 16% and noise by 40%) as a result of the daa not having a fit for purpose environmental scheme, as confirmed by the IAA this week.
Ryanair wants to continue to grow and invest in Ireland, having submitted proposals to Transport Minister Eamon Ryan to grow Irish traffic by +50% from 20m passengers to 30m by 2030, but unfortunately Minister Ryan has done nothing. Ireland needs a Transport Minister who will actually implement the National Aviation Policy, unlike Minister Ryan who has continued to dither and dodge and has caused irreparable damage to Ireland’s tourism by sitting on the fence and letting local County Council planning conditions block Dublin Airport’s growth potential for possibly up to 4 years.
This Winter, Ryanair sought to add 3 new Boeing aircraft to our Dublin fleet (+$300m invest.), add 15 new routes and grow traffic by +9% to 7.5m passengers, however, Ryanair has only received sufficient slots to carry 6.4m passengers. This artificial cap is now starting to bite with a ban on additional extra flights that are required to meet customer demand, especially at peak travel periods like mid-term, sporting events and Christmas, which is going to result in significantly higher airfares as demand will exceed supply. Not alone is Ryanair’s $300m investment and new jobs being blocked but this enforced reduction in seats will only lead to consumers having to pay higher air fares and may well result in the return of pricing that was last seen in the 1980’s.
It is inexplicable that Minister Ryan has done nothing in the last 4+ years to intervene, despite the traffic cap completely contradicting his own National Aviation Policy. Ryanair calls on Transport Minister Eamon Ryan to urgently lift this archaic and destructive traffic cap from Dublin Airport, which is a vital piece of national infrastructure. If Minister Ryan fails to take action to remove this block on seats, then traffic will stall to the detriment of jobs, tourism and connectivity. Passengers will see for the first-time what Minister Ryan’s inaction will do to airfares at peak periods as Ryanair and indeed all other airlines will be blocked from putting on additional flights for peak demand for the October mid-term, Christmas and one-off sporting events. Minister Ryan has done nothing to avert this crisis in capacity restrictions and instead of taking action he is prepared to let this capacity cap to be bogged down in local planning for the next 3/4 years when he should fast track the development of vital national infrastructure with Ministerial intervention. Unfortunately, families returning home for Christmas, getting away for the October mid-term or attending sporting events will now have to pay for Minister Ryan’s inaction with higher airfares as demand at these peak periods is outstripping the supply of flights that Ryanair unfortunately will have to send elsewhere in Europe.
With the 2024 local elections taking place next Fri (7th June), Ryanair urges Ireland to vote for politicians who will take action to lift this artificial traffic cap and save Irish tourism, jobs, and the economy from irreparable damage. Irish citizens should not be penalised for the daa’s repeated mismanagement of Dublin Airport, who only this week were forced by the IAA regulator to review their excessive price increases as they do not comply with EU regulation.”
