Ryanair has warned its popular Christmas Dublin-Lapland flights are “at risk” of being switched to Belfast due to the ongoing capacity constraints at Dublin, arising from the
airport’s passenger cap.
Ryanair has also confirmed it has reached agreement with Leinster Rugby to switch the Leinster team’s away match flights from Dublin to Belfast Airport “because the IAA [Irish
Aviation Authority] have blocked slots for these extra rugby flights, which have operated every year from Dublin for the last 20 years.”
Ryanair has, again, called on Transport Minister Eamon Ryan and Tourism Minister Catherine Martin to take action and issue a Direction Letter to the IAA to authorise slots for regular winter extra flights.
Under Section 10 of the Aviation Action 2001, the Transport Minister has the legal power to issue a Direction to the IAA to allow these extra slots, but despite receiving a draft
of this letter from Ryanair, he has still not signed or issued this letter to the IAA, the airline said.
Ryanair’s CEO Michael O’Leary said:
“The Irish Transport Minister has the power to issue a Letter of Direction to the Irish Aviation Authority, telling them to allow these regular winter extras for Leinster Rugby flights, for Santa flights to Lapland at Christmas, and hundreds of Christmas extras to and from Dublin, which enable thousands of Irish families to reunite over the Christmas holidays. It is unacceptable that Ireland’s Transport Minister won’t exercise his legal power to approve these extra flights. If he won’t act – as he has failed to for four years now – we, then, call on Green Tourism Minister Catherine Martin to take action.
“Dublin Airport opened a second runway in 2022, taking runway capacity up to 60 million passengers. However, because of Eamon Ryan’s failure to act, Irish airlines cannot add extra flights or effectively use this second runway because of a 17 year old planning restriction (about road traffic concerns), which Fingal County Council and An Bord Pleanála, themselves, ignored in 2015 when they granted planning permission for Dublin’s second runway.
“The repeated failure of the Green Party to deliver the growth promised in their aviation and tourism policies in Government has now been exposed. Eamon Ryan and Catherine Martin can and should now issue a Direction Letter to the IAA telling them to allow these extra slots, so that Leinster Rugby can travel to their away matches from Dublin Airport. This is also necessary to allow Irish families to travel to Lapland from Dublin not Belfast this Christmas. Irish aviation and tourism is the laughingstock of Europe, where two Green Ministers sit on their hands doing nothing while a 17 year old concern about road traffic blocks growth of Irish air traffic, tourism and jobs. The sooner an Election takes place and these failed Green Ministers are replaced, the better it will be for Irish aviation, Irish tourism and Irish economic growth.”
