Ryanair today (Mon 16 Dec) welcomed the late intervention of failed Green Minister Eamon Ryan to suspend driver regulations to cope with the backlog of parcels at the closed Holyhead Ferry Port in Wales. The closure of Holyhead highlights again Ireland’s tenuous transport links and just how readily these can be disrupted by natural events.

Sadly, in the run up to Christmas Irish passengers are now facing stark choices due to Eamon Ryan’s failure to act on the Dublin Airport Cap, which this year has meant 220,000 fewer seats to/from Dublin, but 50,000 extra seats at Belfast this Christmas. Had Eamon Ryan issued a Direction Letter to the IAA, this Dublin Airport Cap could have been scrapped this winter, and Ryanair and other airlines would have added an extra 220,000 seats to/from Dublin Airport to keep fares lower this Christmas.

As things stand today, Ryanair’s warning of £500 one-way air fares have now been realised. Prices on some flights from Gatwick and Stansted to Dublin on Friday 20^th Dec have now reached £500 and prices on flights from London to Dublin across the weekend of Fri 20^th to Mon 23^rd Dec are rising rapidly.

Green Minister Eamon Ryan’s failure to act on the Dublin Airport Cap shows why the new incoming Govt must legislate quickly to scrap this cap. Ireland is an island on the periphery of Europe. We need multiple ferry routes on/off the island, and we need multiple air routes to/from our major airport at Dublin. Dublin has invested over €200m developing a 2^nd runway, which takes runway capacity up to 60m passengers. However, under failed Green Minister Eamon Ryan’s watch, a passenger cap of 32m has been allowed to block airlines from adding extra flights this Christmas, which would have kept air fares lower by increasing capacity.

Instead, while Eamon Ryan was dithering, these extra flights have gone to Belfast and other airports around Europe, with a result that passengers returning home to Dublin this Christmas are paying the highest air fares on record with fares on some flights now exceeding £500 one-way. These high fares and fewer flights are another example of Green Transport Minister Eamon Ryan’s abject failure to deliver transport solutions for Ireland over the past 5 years.

Ryanair calls on the incoming Govt to ensure that this idiotic airport cap is scrapped, to allow Dublin and Irish airlines return to growing traffic, tourism and jobs on the island of Ireland.