Senior executives from Ireland’s leading airlines and global aviation organisations appeared before the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Transport to press for the swift removal of the long standing passenger cap at Dublin Airport.
The hearing formed part of the pre legislative scrutiny of the Dublin Airport Passenger Capacity Bill 2026 which seeks to grant the transport minister powers to lift the 32 million annual passenger limit. Aer Lingus chief executive Lynne Embleton described the restriction as a historic anachronism that must be urgently removed warning that any delay in scrapping it could trigger very significant capacity cuts next year and lead to higher airfares for passengers. She told committee members that enforcing the cap would prove catastrophic for the national carrier and for Ireland’s connectivity.
Ryanair group chief executive Michael O’Leary and his colleague Eddie Wilson echoed those concerns stating that reinstatement of the limit would result in fewer flights and inevitably push fares upward as airlines struggled to meet demand. O’Leary emphasised that the cap no longer made sense given the opening of Dublin Airport’s second runway and the available capacity for up to 60 million passengers each year.
Willie Walsh director general of the International Air Transport Association and a former Aer Lingus chief executive told the committee that the passenger cap now poses a real and immediate risk to the Irish aviation sector warning of lost jobs reduced economic activity and diminished international links if the legislation is not advanced quickly.
Representing Airlines for America Chris Sununu the organisation’s president and chief executive outlined the potential for retaliatory action from the United States government. He revealed that active discussions had taken place in recent days with the White House and the US Department of Transportation noting that the cap had moved beyond a planning issue to become a policy decision with direct economic consequences. Sununu cautioned that there was a very strong potential for Irish airlines particularly Aer Lingus to lose vital transatlantic connections if the limit remained in place adding that the United States was watching developments in Ireland very closely.
All parties appearing before the committee agreed that the cap had become unsustainable following earlier legal challenges a European Court of Justice opinion and a High Court stay on enforcement. They urged lawmakers to accelerate passage of the bill to safeguard Ireland’s aviation industry and prevent broader damage to tourism and business travel. The committee continues its examination of the general scheme of the legislation with further sessions expected in the coming weeks.
