- Potential drop to 25.2m passengers if slots cut.
- Risk to 120-140 pilot jobs from reduced operations.
- Cap at 32m, exceeded at 36.4m in 2025.
- Legal stay on slot limits pending EU court decision.
- Violation claims against US-EU Air Transport Agreement.
The US Airline Pilots Association has claimed that Dublin Airport passenger numbers could drop to 25.2m annually if US carriers’ slots are reduced due to the 32m cap, potentially risking pilot and cabin crew jobs.
The cap, introduced in 2007 for Terminal 2 construction, saw 36.4m passengers in 2025 amid legal pauses. The association urges the US Department of Transportation to push Ireland and the EU to lift the restriction.
A complaint from Airlines for America seeks suspension of Irish flights unless the cap is removed, with responses due by 23 January 2026. The Irish Aviation Authority’s prior slot limits were stayed by the High Court pending a Court of Justice of the European Union decision, expected after an advocate general opinion next month.
US carriers operated 15 to 16 daily round-trips to Dublin in summer 2025, supporting 120 to 140 pilots. The association claims slot cuts violate the US-EU Air Transport Agreement and are based on terminal capacity limits irrelevant to operational needs.
The US Airline Pilots Association shared in a written statement “ALPA supports the efforts of the Department and US airlines to prevent Ireland from cutting US carriers’ historic slots at Dublin as the Irish aviation authorities had proposed.”
“Such actions would ultimately lower the capacity of Dublin Airport from a current exceedance of passengers to 25.2m commercial airline passengers per year, placing pilot and cabin crew jobs at risk.”
“While slot cuts can be justified under the ATA for operational or technical reasons, these proposed cuts appear to be based on an irrelevant factor, namely, a supposed limit on Dublin’s terminal buildings to handle commercial airline passengers to achieve a 32m passenger per year limit for the entire airport, including general aviation and other users.”
