1 NEW AIRCRAFT & 9% TRAFFIC GROWTH THANKS TO HIGH COURT SUSPENSION OF ILLEGAL TRAFFIC CAP

CALLS ON “DO NOTHING” GOVT TO SCRAP CAP “ASAP”, NOT “NEXT YEAR”

Ryanair, Europe’s No.1 airline, today (Thurs, 25 Sept) unveiled its Dublin W25 schedule with 96 routes, incl. one exciting new route to Rabat (Morocco’s winter sun capital), as well as extra frequencies on 28 other routes, like Birmingham, Budapest, Krakow, Milan, and Valencia. To support this growth, Ryanair will base another B737 “Gamechanger” aircraft ($100m invest) at Dublin, bringing its total Dublin-based fleet to 35 ($3.5billion invest).

Ryanair’s W25 growth at Dublin is only possible thanks to the High Court’s suspension of Dublin’s (2007) illegal 32m traffic cap – in a case the Irish airlines were forced to take because our Govt failed to scrap the cap themselves. Sadly, Michael Martin’s new Govt (with a 20-seat majority) promised in its January Prog. for Govt to scrap this illegal cap “as soon as possible”, but 9 months later, there has been zero action by this “do nothing” Govt or its “do nothing” Transport Minister. Incredibly, while this new Govt sits on its hands, doing nothing, the stupid bureaucrats at An Bord Pleanála have invented a second illegal “movements” cap be imposed on Dublin Airport – this time on “night-time arrivals” between 5AM and 7AM, which will disrupt existing transatlantic arrivals and further damage Ireland’s traffic, tourism, jobs, and economic growth.

Ryanair calls on Michael Martin, Simon Harris, and the rest of this “do nothing” Govt to immediately abolish these 2 illegal traffic caps at Dublin Airport “ASAP”, as they promised in their Prog. for Govt and not “next year”, which will be 2 years after they were elected.

In addition to launching its Dublin W25 schedule, Ryanair today unveiled its new corporate gift cards, just in time for Christmas! These premium gift cards can be gifted by Irish companies, to their employees, are tax-free up to €1,500. They will be personalised with your company logo and can be delivered directly to your office (although not by Santa himself!). Visit Ryanair.com for more info.

Ryanair’s CEO, Michael O’Leary said:

“Thanks to the High Court’s suspension of the illegal 32m Dublin traffic cap, Ryanair has added 1 new aircraft and 9% traffic growth at Dublin Airport for 2025 – the first Winter that Ryanair has been able to grow Dublin traffic since the IAA enforced this illegal cap in 2024. While this is good news for Irish passengers, tourism, and jobs, we and other airlines need this illegal cap to be urgently abolished by Govt if we are to continue to invest in and grow Dublin traffic. In January (9 months ago), the new Govt promised to scrap the cap “ASAP”, yet last week we were told that it could take until next year (2 years of dither and delay)! We call on Michael Martin, Simon Harris and their “do nothing” Govt to take immediate action and scrap these illegal caps NOW. Every week of delay is another week of lost tourism, lost jobs, and lost growth that goes elsewhere in Europe, where there are no illegal traffic caps on airport growth.

On top of our Dublin W25 schedule, Ryanair has today launched our new corporate Christmas gift cards. Companies can now gift up to €1,500 worth of Ryanair flights, tax-free, to their employees this Christmas. Ryanair offers lower fares and more routes than any other airline in Europe, which puts our tax-free gift cards at the top of each and every person’s Santa list this Christmas. The only gift we all want from Micheál Martin and Simon Harris this Christmas is to keep their promise to scrap the illegal Dublin traffic cap ASAP, and certainly before Rudolph arrives on the 24^th Dec next. Ho Ho Ho.”