- The Irish Aviation Authority has published its draft decision on Dublin Airport’s Winter 2026 capacity.
- Proposed coordination parameters define aircraft scheduling at Dublin Airport.
- The Winter 2026 season runs from 25 October 2026 to 27 March 2027 inclusive.
- Up to 32 additional daily slots will be allocated without degrading service quality.
- The IAA does not propose to implement any seat cap coordination parameter for Winter 2026.
The Irish Aviation Authority has published its draft decision on Dublin Airport’s Winter 2026 capacity and proposes coordination parameters which the airport slot allocation process will use. Officials revealed the parameters define how many aircraft may schedule to use Dublin Airport at a particular time. The Winter 2026 scheduling season runs from 25 October 2026 to 27 March 2027 inclusive.
The IAA carries responsibility for the implementation of the EU Airport Slot Regulation. The Slot Regulation aims to ensure that where airport capacity is scarce the maximum available capacity is identified and distributed in a fair and transparent way by means of the allocation of take-off and landing slots by an independent coordinator according to rules set out in the Slot Regulation and based on the capacity identified for the airport concerned. Capacity is declared to the detailed level of up to 10-minute intervals.
The proposed coordination parameters will support increased competition by allowing for up to 32 additional daily slots to be allocated by the independent slot coordinator without degrading the current service quality. In accordance with the Order of the High Court that pending the determination of associated legal proceedings the IAA is not to take account of certain planning conditions which limit the combined capacity of Terminal 1 and Terminal 2 to 32m annual passengers and does not propose to implement any seat cap coordination parameter for Winter 2026. The draft decision and supporting material is available on the slot allocation webpage.
Irish Aviation Authority shared “The proposed coordination parameters will support increased competition by allowing for up to 32 additional daily slots to be allocated by the independent slot coordinator but without degrading the current service quality.”
