Ryanair has urged the Minister of Transport to expand the Regional Airports Programme funding cap to 3m passengers per annum.
The current threshold stands at 1m passengers. Ryanair grew traffic at Ireland’s regional airports 65pc since pre-COVID. The airline promises 50pc traffic growth to 30m passengers by 2030 if the cap lifts. Growth includes doubling traffic at Shannon and Kerry plus a new two-aircraft base at Ireland West Knock.
Jade Kirwan shared “Ryanair wishes to grow traffic and tourism across Ireland, but this artificial cap is restricting much-needed economic development. As Shannon has seen this week, exceeding 1m passengers means losing the exchequer support needed for future expansion. We call on Minister O’Brien raise the funding cap for Ireland’s regional airports from 1m to 3m passengers p.a., ensuring Ireland’s regional airports remain eligible for funding under the Regional Airports Programme, allowing them to grow traffic without being penalised for doing so.”
“While we welcome last week’s €4m Regional Airports Programme funding across Knock, Kerry and Donegal, it is astounding that other regional airports, such as Shannon have lost their eligibility for funding under the Govt’s Regional Airports Programme simply because they have grown annual traffic beyond 1m passengers. Surely, we should be promoting tourism, jobs and economic growth for regional Ireland, not penalising airports for delivering it.”
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