Ryanair, Ireland’s No.1 airline, today (Fri, 5 Dec) called on Transport Minister O’Brien to support Ireland’s regional airports by expanding the scope of the Regional Airports Programme (RAP) to 3m passengers p.a. At present, RAP only provides funding for regional airports with fewer than 1m passengers p.a. This means that regional airports who grow traffic beyond 1m passengers p.a. (e.g., Shannon Airport) lose their eligibility for this much-needed exchequer funding, penalising them for delivering traffic, tourism, jobs and economic growth for regional Ireland.

Ryanair is calling on Minister O’Brien to increase this funding cap for Ireland’s regional airports to 3m passengers p.a. (in line with EU State Aid rules), so regional airports can continue to access exchequer support as they grow.

Ryanair has already grown traffic at Ireland’s regional airports +65% since pre-Covid, but continued growth is being unfairly limited by the Govt’s RAP. If Minister O’Brien expands the RAP funding cap to 3m passengers p.a. for 2026-30 (as well as lifting the Dublin Airport traffic cap), Ryanair will respond with +50% traffic growth to 30m passengers by 2030. This growth would see Ryanair double traffic at Shannon, and Kerry, and open a new 2 aircraft base at Knock, driving important tourism and delivering economic benefit to the regions.

Ryanair’s Jade Kirwan said:

“While we welcome yesterday’s €4m Regional Airports Programme funding across Knock, Kerry and Donegal, it is astounding that other regional airports, such as Shannon have lost their eligibility for funding under the Govt’s Regional Airports Programme simply because they have grown annual traffic beyond 1m passengers. Surely, we should be promoting tourism, jobs and economic growth for regional Ireland, not penalising airports for delivering it.

Ryanair wishes to grow traffic and tourism across Ireland, but this artificial cap is restricting much-needed economic development. As Shannon has seen this week, exceeding 1m passengers means losing the exchequer support needed for future expansion. We call on Minister O’Brien raise the funding cap for Ireland’s regional airports from 1m to 3m passengers p.a., ensuring Ireland’s regional airports remain eligible for funding under the Regional Airports Programme, allowing them to grow traffic without being penalised for doing so.”