High Court Pauses Dublin Airport’s Summer Passenger Cap

The High Court has temporarily halted a planned passenger cap that would have affected flights at Dublin Airport next summer. The Irish Aviation Authority (IAA) had imposed a restriction limiting passenger seats to 25.2 million from late March to October, but this has been paused just ahead of the allocation of summer flight slots.

Aer Lingus, Ryanair, and several American airlines had contested the cap, arguing that it would cause substantial harm by depriving them of critical “use them or lose them” take-off and landing slots. The airlines feared losing these slots would impact their operations significantly.

The IAA initially set the cap to help keep the airport within its annual limit of 32 million passengers, a restriction established in 2007 as part of the planning approval for Terminal Two. The cap’s impact has already had implications beyond aviation, with Ryanair announcing in September that Leinster Rugby would have to fly from Belfast for some away games due to the restrictions.

In a related case, a separate judicial review is set to take place in December regarding the IAA’s decision to cap winter passenger seats at 14.4 million. This review was also initiated by Aer Lingus, Ryanair, and airport operator DAA.

In his written ruling, Mr. Justice O’Donnell highlighted that the risk of breaching planning conditions did not outweigh the severe and likely consequences of not granting a stay on the cap. He emphasized that these consequences included not only significant disruption for the affected airlines but also broader economic harm and inconvenience to the public.