The High Court has been asked to extend a pause it imposed last November on the Dublin Airport passenger cap. Mr Justice Barry O’Donnell said he would give his judgment next week.
Following the November pause, the court also agreed to refer the case to the Court of Justice of the EU (CJEU) to clarify certain matters.
However, as it takes an average of 16 months to get a ruling from the CJEU, the High Court was on Friday asked by a number of airlines to extend its November order pending the CJEU decision.
If the court grants an extension of the pause, it will apply to passenger caps until the CJEU decision is delivered.
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Aer Lingus, Ryanair and a consortium of American carriers had sought a pause on the cap imposed by the Irish Aviation Authority (IAA) limiting passenger numbers to 25.2 million between late March and October.
The airlines claimed the restriction will cost them millions and will also mean they will be deprived of some of their “use them or lose them” take-off and landing slots.
The case is against the IAA and the airport operator, the DAA, along with Airports Coordination Ltd, which allocates slots, are notice parties.
The IAA, in making its decision limiting winter and summer passenger caps, said it took into account technical, operational, environmental and local planning constraints, including a 32 million passenger limit for the airport imposed by planning conditions in 2007.
Aer Lingus claims the estimated financial impact of the seat cap for the summer and winter 2025 seasons is €84 million, which will increase if the cap is carried forward into subsequent seasons.
It will mean a reduction of around 671,000 seats, or 8.5 per cent, for the summer 2025 season as compared with its original planned capacity, or a cut of 362,000 seats compared with summer 2024 numbers, the airline says.
Ryanair estimates it will lose approximately 3,000 slots or more than 550,000 seats in summer 2025. This equates to two full weeks of its business over the summer season at Dublin Airport. This could result in an estimated loss in the region of €50 million, it says.
The American consortium, comprising Delta, JetBlue Airways and United Airlines, claim they will suffer serious losses, with Delta alone claiming it would cost $22.4 million (€20.7 million).
In submissions to Mr Justice O’Donnell on Friday, lawyers for the airlines sought the extension of the pause so that there will not have to be repeated challenges in relation to further seasons until the CJEU decision comes.
The IAA continues to have, as it had when the temporary pause was imposed, a neutral position but agreed a decision of the High Court would obviate the need for repeated challenges.
The DAA layers said its position was that the planning conditions, including the 32 million passenger limit, should be observed. What the airlines were seeking was that there be no constraints on passenger numbers until the High Court makes its final decision in this case, pending the decision of the CJEU, it was argued.
