RYANAIR CALLS ON TRANSPORT MINISTER EAMON RYAN TO SCRAP THE CAP

BEFORE IRELAND LOSES MORE JOBS, TOURISM AND CONNECTIVITY TO ITALY & POLAND

Following Dublin Airport’s Winter ‘24 slot allocation to airlines, Ryanair, Ireland’s No.1 airline, today (30^th May) called on Transport Minister Eamon Ryan to intervene and urgently scrap the 32m traffic cap at Dublin Airport as the airline was allocated 1 million less seats this Winter than required to meet demand from families travelling during October mid-term breaks, major sporting events and returning home to visit loved ones at Christmas. The artificial cap at Dublin airport is resulting in airlines having less capacity vs. demand and risks driving up prices of flights to the levels last seen in the 1980’s.

Earlier this month the IAA confirmed that it will limit Winter traffic at Dublin Airport to just 14.4m passengers. This is the first time that the IAA have imposed such a limit. This Winter Ryanair sought to grow by +9% and carry 7.5m passengers to/from Dublin Airport while also launching 15 new routes but due to this artificial traffic cap (a planning condition from 2007 – almost 20 years ago) has only been allocated 6.4m seats resulting in over 1 million less seats than required being available for passengers this Winter, leaving Ireland’s tourism, jobs and economy suffering irreparable damage and passengers facing soaring air fares as a result of reduced capacity.

Ryanair has already been forced to switch 3 aircraft ($300m investment), 16 new routes, and over 200 jobs to Southern Italy for Summer ‘24 which would have gone to Dublin but were blocked by the artificial traffic cap and also had to remove its enviro-friendly Boeing 8200 aircraft (that reduce CO2 emissions by 16% and noise by 40%) as a result of the daa not having a fit for purpose environmental scheme, as confirmed by the IAA this week.

With the 2024 local elections taking place next Fri (7^th June), Ryanair urges Ireland to vote for politicians who will take action to lift this artificial traffic cap and save Irish tourism, jobs, and the economy from irreparable damage. Irish citizens should not be penalised for the daa’s repeated mismanagement of Dublin Airport, who only this week were forced by the IAA regulator to review their excessive price increases as they do not comply with EU regulation. Only daa mismanagement could deliver less capacity with a second runway.

Ryanair wants to continue to grow and invest in Ireland, having submitted proposals to Transport Minister Eamon Ryan to grow Irish traffic by +50% from 20m passengers to 30m by 2030, but unfortunately Minister Ryan has done nothing. Ireland needs a Transport Minister who will actually implement the National Aviation Policy, unlike Minister Ryan who has continued to dither and dodge and has caused irreparable damage to Ireland’s tourism by sitting on the fence and letting local County Council planning conditions block Dublin Airport’s growth potential for possibly up to 4 years.

Ryanair’s Eddie Wilson said:

“This Winter, Ryanair sought to add 3 new Boeing aircraft to our Dublin fleet (+$300m invest.), add 15 new routes and grow traffic by +9% to 7.5m passengers, however, Ryanair has only received sufficient slots to carry 6.4m passengers. This artificial cap is now starting to bite with a ban on additional extra flights that are required to meet customer demand, especially at peak travel periods like mid-term, sporting events and Christmas, which is going to result in significantly higher airfares as demand will exceed supply. Not alone is Ryanair’s $300m investment and new jobs being blocked but this enforced reduction in seats will only lead to consumers having to pay higher air fares and may well result in the return of pricing that was last seen in the 1980’s.

It is inexplicable that Minister Ryan has done nothing in the last 4+ years to intervene, despite the traffic cap completely contradicting his own National Aviation Policy. Ryanair calls on Transport Minister Eamon Ryan to urgently lift this archaic and destructive traffic cap from Dublin Airport, which is a vital piece of national infrastructure. If Minister Ryan fails to take action to remove this block on seats, then traffic will stall to the detriment of jobs, tourism and connectivity. Passengers will see for the first-time what Minister Ryan’s inaction will do to airfares at peak periods as Ryanair and indeed all other airlines will be blocked from putting on additional flights for peak demand for the October mid-term, Christmas and one-off sporting events. Minister Ryan has done nothing to avert this crisis in capacity restrictions and instead of taking action he is prepared to let this capacity cap to be bogged down in local planning for the next 3/4 years when he should fast track the development of vital national infrastructure with Ministerial intervention. Unfortunately, families returning home for Christmas, getting away for the October mid-term or attending sporting events will now have to pay for Minister Ryan’s inaction with higher airfares as demand at these peak periods is outstripping the supply of flights that Ryanair unfortunately will have to send elsewhere in Europe.”