The DAA has said that Ryanair’s decision to cut routes from Dublin Airport will result in job losses and that ‘Ireland’s hard-won reputation will continue to be damaged.’
Earlier today, Ryanair confirmed they are set to axe flights at Dublin Airport over the ongoing passenger cap controversy.
Introduced in 2007 as a condition in allowing the DAA to build a second terminal at Dublin Airport, the 32 million passenger cap has led to airlines having to cut the number of flights coming in and out of the capital.
Ryanair’s Chief Executive Michael O’Leary claimed last week that the Irish Aviation Authority (IAA) has blocked some of their prospective slots offered in winter, and the airline is cutting 14 routes from Dublin.
Affecting flights between October to March, the period when airlines are limited to 13 million seats to comply with the cap, the services include Spanish routes Asturias, Castellon and Santiago.
Additionally, flights to Carcassonne in France, Leipzig and Nuremberg in Germany, Palanga in Lithuania, and Romania’s Sibiu and Suceava will all be affected by the move.
Ryanair warned that it is unlikely they will restore all of the 14 routes by the summer of 2025 following the IAA’s recent proposal to limit airlines to 25.2 million seats next summer.
It is reported that Aer Lingus are ‘continuing to assess the impact of the IAA’s draft decision reducing capacity for summer 2025’.
The Irish Aviation Authority (IAA) recently proposed limiting airlines at Dublin Airport to 25.2 million seats next summer to ensure they do not exceed the overall 32 million limit.
In a statement to Extra.ie, the DAA said: ‘Ryanair’s decision to cut routes is simply the reality of what having a passenger cap means and evidence of what daa and others have been warning against for months: until the cap is lifted, connectivity will be lost, jobs and economic growth will go to other countries instead, and Ireland’s hard-won reputation will continue to be damaged.
These routes are being pulled from Dublin and aren’t going to the regional airports – they’re being lost to Ireland altogether with Ryanair taking planes and growth to other countries such as Sweden where it last week announced 10 new routes.
