Court Extends Suspension of Dublin Airport's Seat Cap
DUBLIN (Reuters) - Ireland's High Court on Wednesday extended its suspension of a passenger cap at Dublin airport until an outcome is reached on a legal challenge taken by a number of airlines against the limit.
The number of passengers at Dublin airport, which carries around 80% of the country's air travellers, was capped at 32 million when planners approved the construction of a second terminal in 2007, in part to avoid local road congestion.
The airport overshot the cap by over 1 million passengers last year, and the High Court in November prevented regulators from cutting the number of passenger seats during the March to October summer season with an initial suspension.
That suspension will now remain in place pending the determination of the airlines' challenge, Judge Barry O'Donnell said in a written judgment. Matters relating to the dispute were referred to Europe's highest court in December.
Ireland's largest airline, Ryanair, one of the airlines challenging the cap, welcomed Wednesday's ruling and said the temporary relief would allow it to add new routes and grow traffic at the airport this winter.
The airline, Europe's largest by passenger numbers, reiterated a call for the government to intervene and scrap the cap. The recently re-elected coalition pledged in January that it would seek to do so.
Prime Minister Micheal Martin said this week that ministers would "do what it takes" to lift the cap but was conscience that anything it may do could be subject to legal challenge.
He was responding to a report in the Irish Times that the government had received new advice from the attorney general that includes the potential to pass legislation effectively carving the cap out from planning laws.
(Reporting by Padraic Halpin; Editing by Hugh Lawson)
