- Airlines for America pressed for cap removal legislation by April 2026.
- Advocate general backed cap consideration in slot allocation.
- CJEU referral stemmed from 2024 High Court questions.
- Dublin Airport exceeded 32m passengers in forecasts.
- US group warned of broader EU aviation implications.
US lobby group Airlines for America has once again urged the Irish Government to enact legislation removing Dublin Airport’s 32m passenger cap by end April 2026 to avoid a potentially adverse Court of Justice of the European Union ruling.
An opinion by the EU advocate general earlier this month supported the Irish Aviation Authority’s power to consider the cap in slot allocation.
The group warned a final CJEU decision could reshape slot rules across the EU and affect US carriers’ transatlantic planning. Aer Lingus Ryanair and others challenged restrictions while the Government drafted a bill for cap removal. Dublin Airport handled over 37m passengers in projections for the year.
An advocate general of the Court of Justice of the European Union ruledd that an annual passenger limit imposed by a planning authority may be taken into account when allocating slots at an airport with capacity problems.
Manuel Campos Sánchez-Bordona shared “Compliance with the limit of 32m passengers a year can be classified as one of the operating constraints. The fact that the constraint in question comes from a State planning authority does not mean that it ceases to be an operational constraint.”
