Dublin Airport asked planners on Friday to boost its passenger limit by four million to 36 million in a bid to end a long-running row that is heading for the European courts.
The news came as Ryanair calculated that the controversial cap had driven air fares between London and Dublin over Christmas to €600.
An Bord Pleanála barred the State’s biggest airport from handling more than 32 million passengers a year in 2007 as a condition of allowing it to build a second terminal.
State company, DAA, the airport’s operator, confirmed on Friday that it had asked local planning authority, Fingal County Council, to raise the airport’s passenger cap to 36 million in a move it flagged some months ago.
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DAA hopes Friday’s application can “move swiftly through the planning system” as it does not seek permission to build any infrastructure. The company intends it as an interim solution to the impasse while Fingal officials weigh an earlier application for an increase in the cap to 40 million.
That application is part of a more ambitious €2.4 billion plan to significantly extend the airport’s facilities.
While DAA hopes that Fingal planners will approve the 40 million application in 2025, it expects that any decision will be appealed. The company lodged that application a year ago.
About 35 million passengers are expected through Dublin Airport in 2025 while the numbers this year are also likely to breach the 32 million limit.
DAA chief executive Kenny Jacobs pointed out that the airport could already comfortably manage 36 million passengers a year.
“Our ‘no build’ operational application provides a sensible short-term solution while we wait for approval for DAA’s bigger infrastructure application submitted a year ago this week,” he added.
The High Court this month asked European courts to rule on key aspects of the cap after airlines argued that it contravened EU law and the bloc’s North American air travel treaties.
Planners imposed the 32 million cap in 2007 to ease fears of congestion on roads leading to the airport, which have since been upgraded.
On Friday Michael O’Leary, Ryanair chief executive, called on the incoming government to scrap the limit. His company calculates that some one-way fares on 10 London-Dublin flights hit £500 sterling (€603) in the run-up to Christmas as a result of the cap.
Mr O’Leary blamed the fact that the airline could not add 200,000 extra seats for the holiday for the high fares.
“We welcome the formation talks of the new government, and we welcome the fact that both Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael committed in their manifestos to abolish the Dublin Airport cap,” he said.
Record fares show the need for government to axe the limit and allow airlines to add extra flights for sports events, bank holidays and Christmas, Mr O’Leary added.
Meanwhile, Cork has emerged as the State’s fastest-growing airport when Dr Muhammad Asim became its three millionth passenger this year as he disembarked from an Edinburgh flight at 12.30pm on Friday. Mr Jacobs declared that reaching the milestone marked the end of a “brilliant year” for the airport and predicted that 2025 would be even busier.
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