The High Court will decide today on an application from Ryanair, Aer Lingus, and Airlines For America (A4A) for a stay on a decision by the Irish Aviation Authority (IAA) that limits airline slots at Dublin Airport for the upcoming summer season.
The IAA has imposed a cap of 25.2m available seats for the summer, approximately 1m fewer than the previous year, to comply with a 32m passengers per year limit set during the planning permission for the second terminal.
The airlines have already received permission for a judicial review of the IAA’s decision but are seeking to pause its implementation until the review is heard, amid concerns that the decision would result in significant seat losses for both Ryanair and Aer Lingus.
The Dublin Airport Authority (daa) argued that granting a stay would violate binding planning restrictions, while the airlines assert that financial losses from the IAA’s decision would be unrecoverable if the stay is not granted.
Ryanair’s case
Ryanair’s lawyers argued that losing historic slots at Dublin Airport will jeopardise the airline’s ability to retain similar slots at 67 other European destinations, due to the “use it or lose it” rule governing both takeoff and landing slots.
Martin Hayden SC emphasised that if the court does not pause the IAA’s cap decision, airlines may permanently lose their historic slots and never recover them.
Hayden also criticizes the IAA for acting beyond its authority by assuming the role of “judge, jury, and executioner” regarding potential breaches of the 2007 planning condition.
Aer Lingus case
Paul Sreenan SC for Aer Lingus said the cap will cause a revenue loss of €84m next year and up to €130m by 2026.
The airline highly depends on “use them or lose them” takeoff and landing slots, needing to utilise 80pc of these slots each season to retain them for the following year.
Mr Sreenan argued that airlines have EU law rights to “historic” slots, and losing them
due to the IAA’s imposed cap would be detrimental.
The legal stay being sought would only affect the IAA’s decision to limit passenger numbers to 25.2m during the summer season, and Mr. Sreenan emphasised that concerns revolve around slot retention rather than planning conditions.
Airlines for America
Dominic McGrath SC, representing Airlines for America, highlighted that the IAA cap would result in significant financial losses and a permanent loss of slots, undermining the foundations of airline operations.
