The chief executive of Ryanair has said the 32 million passenger-a-year cap at Dublin Airport is “bogus” because DAA, the State-owned company that operates the airport, has built a second runway that has the capacity to raise passenger traffic at the aviation hub to 60 million a year.
Michael O’Leary was speaking to reporters after Ryanair’s AGM in Dublin on Thursday, one day after he met with Minister of State in the Department of Transport James Lawless to discuss the impasse over the cap. DAA has said the cap will be breached this year, and there will be fewer slots available for airlines at Dublin Airport this winter.
“We’ve already broken it,” he said. “It’s at 33 million passengers this year. So the only issue is, now, does anybody really believe that Fingal County Council will not lift this restriction at the end of the current planning process? No. So the question is, what do we do for the next two or three years?”
Mr O’Leary reiterated his claim that the loss of slots this winter will result in passengers being forced to travel by boat and other means transport during the Christmas period. The airline has written a letter for the minister to sign an order directing the Irish Aviation Authority to issue additional slots to avert the potential crisis.
He said the cap was introduced in 2007 by An Bord Pleanála over concerns about car traffic into and out of Dublin Airport. However, Mr O’Leary said that problem “no longer exists” because a larger share of passengers use public transport to travel to and from the airport.
“Any competent politician would come out and say that problem no longer exists,” he said, referring to Minister for Transport Eamon Ryan. “We wouldn’t be having this ludicrous debate or controversy over an entirely bogus f***ing cap that is that is restricting the growth of Dublin Airport, and actually is preventing us and the other airlines adding the 250,000 extra seats we had every Christmas.”
More to follow …
