Airlines and other parties challenging the 32m passenger cap at Dublin Airport have agreed to seek clarification from the Court of Justice of the EU (CJEU), which typically takes 16 months to rule.
DAA chief executive Kenny Jacobs believes removing the passenger cap is best achieved through existing legislation rather than a ministerial directive, aiming to reclassify Dublin Airport as strategic infrastructure.
Dublin Airport’s current cap is 32m passengers per year, but it is expected to handle over 33.3m this year and more than 35m next year, with plans to apply for a 40m cap and eventually 55m.
The High Court has put a stay on the Irish Aviation Authority’s decision to limit takeoff and landing slots, with interest in the case from other European and US airports due to its implications for the EU-US Open Skies Agreement.
Dublin Airport has prepared a standalone planning application to raise the passenger cap to 36m million by the end of January. That application would not involve any construction projects.
The DAA recently submitted thousands of extra pages of additional information to Fingal County Council as part of a separate application that involves infrastructure projects and raising the passenger cap to 40m.
DAA CEO Kenny Jacobs shared “Once we get the 40 million application approved by An Bord Pleanála, I think within a year of that we will be applying for 55 million passengers at Dublin Airport – so that we’re really getting ahead and not catching up, as we have been.”
