BRUSSELS, Feb 12 (Reuters) - Dublin airport may set a 32 million passenger cap to tackle a capacity problem, an adviser to Europe's top court said on Thursday. The passenger cap, introduced in 2007 to
Ryanair warns Dublin Airport capacity may be slashed after EU court adviser b...
Impact of EU Court Ruling on Dublin Airport
BRUSSELS, Feb 12 (Reuters) - Ryanair on Thursday warned that Dublin Airport may be forced to cut capacity by over 15% and Aer Lingus flights to New York could be blocked after an adviser to Europe's top court backed the basis of a passenger cap at Ireland's main airport.
The imposition of the 32 million passenger-per-year cap has been suspended pending a ruling by the Court of Justice of the European Union, but on Thursday the court's Advocate General Campos Sanchez-Bordona indicated there was no reason to strike down the cap.
The court, which follows such non-binding opinions in four out of five cases, will rule in the coming months.
Background of the Capacity Cap
"Today’s Advocate General Ruling, which is likely to be followed by the ECJ in June or July, means that traffic at Dublin Airport, which will be 38 million in 2026 must now be cut back to 32 million, if the Irish government doesn’t take urgent action," Ryanair, one of the airlines that brought the case, said in a statement.
The cap was imposed by local planners in 2008, but only became an issue in 2024 when passenger numbers neared the limit. Dublin Airport overshot by over 4 million passengers last year.
Reactions from Airlines
In the challenge, Ryanair and other airlines argued that the elimination or reduction of slots was unjustified and compromised their freedom to conduct business, but Thursday's opinion rejected both arguments.
U.S. industry trade group Airlines for America filed a complaint with the U.S. Department of Transportation last month asking it to curtail Irish carriers' access to the U.S. if the cap at Dublin Airport is not swiftly scrapped.
That could significantly hurt Aer Lingus, the former flag carrier that is part of the IAG group of airlines and the only Irish airline with significant U.S. operations, something O'Leary described as a "real risk".
Government Response
The Irish cabinet this week gave formal backing to a law to scrap the passenger cap, but it may take until the end of the year for the law to be passed by parliament.
(Reporting by Foo Yun Chee, Sudip Kar-Gupta and Conor Humphries; editing by Inti Landauro and Sharon Singleton)
