- Group will report on what is important to passengers at Dublin Airport
- Group is being established before new price cap is set for airport
- Representatives from organisations in business and tourism will give their say
- Airport price cap to be set this year for 2020-2024
The Commission for Aviation Regulation has launched a new Passenger Advisory Group to advise it on what customers want from Dublin Airport.
The group will assist CAR in examining how passenger priorities are addressed by Dublin Airport regarding the quality of service currently offered and the five-year spending programme planned at the airport. CAR will be setting a price cap – the maximum level of charges set by the airport – from 2020 to 2024 this year.
The group has 13 representatives: Corona Joyce (Age Action), Emma Byrne and Juan Bueso (European Consumer Centre), Alan Dempsey (IBEC), James Farrell (IDA), Leona Murphy (Chambers Ireland), Mark Rowlette (Failte Ireland), Tara Matthews (Irish Society for Autism), Michael McCabe (National Disability Authority), Helen Rochford-Brennan (Alzheimer Europe), Niamh Connolly (National Council for the Blind), Raymond O’Rourke (Consumers Association of Ireland), Ann Doran, Maria Baquero, Cathy Mannion and Luke Manning (Commission for Aviation regulation),
- Leisure passengers are represented by the Consumer’s Association of Ireland, the European Consumer Centre and Fáilte Ireland.
- Older passengers are represented by Age Action and younger passengers by the National Youth Council of Ireland.
- People with reduced mobility or disabilities are represented by the National Disability Authority, the Disability Stakeholders Group, the Irish Society for Autism, the National Council for the Blind Ireland, and Alzheimer’s Europe.
- Business passengers are represented by the Irish Business and Employers Confederation, Chambers Ireland, and the IDA.
The Passenger Advisory Group will assist CAR in achieving one of its statutory objectives which is to protect the reasonable interests of current and prospective users of Dublin Airport. It is also in line with the Government’s 2017 National Policy Statement on Airport Charges.
Adrian Corcoran, Director of Economic Regulation at CAR, said: “We look forward to working with this diverse group of passenger representatives to ensure that our price cap decision for Dublin Airport fully considers the priorities identified by passengers.”
Commissioner for Aviation Regulation Cathy Mannion
Dublin Airport charges airlines for the processing of passengers and for use of its infrastructure. In 2018, the price cap per passenger was €9.59.
In setting the price cap, CAR also sets service quality targets. If Dublin Airport fails to meet these targets it incurs a financial penalty. For example, queue times for security check should not exceed 30 minutes, the infrastructure for processing bags should be available, and passenger satisfaction with nine measures such as cleanliness, helpfulness of staff, ease of wayfinding, etc, should be minimum or “good” or “very good” depending on the measure.
In 2018, Dublin Airport incurred an estimated revenue loss of €600,000 due to four breaches of the maximum security queue time. The Passenger Advisory Group will assist the CAR in establishing the future quality of service measures, targets and penalties for 2020 onwards.
CAR is currently assessing Dublin Airport’s capital investment plans for 2020-2024. Dublin Airport’s draft plan is for €1.7bn of investment, including €1bn in large scale capacity projects. The Passenger Advisory Group will assist CAR in assessing if the passenger facing projects met passenger priorities.
Further information on the group is available here and details on the 2019 determination of airport charges can be found here.
