On Wednesday, the High Court of Ireland has maintained the suspension of the "32 million per year cap" on passengers at Dublin Airport pending the final outcome of a legal challenge that has been referred to Europe.
The airport overshot the cap by over 1 million passengers last year, and the High Court in November prevented regulators from cutting the number of passenger seats during the March to October summer season with an initial suspension.
Existing suspension will now remain in place pending the determination of the airlines' challenge, Judge Barry O'Donnell said in a written judgment. Matters relating to the dispute were referred to Europe's highest court in December.
As per the State regulator, the Irish Aviation Authority (IAA) says it must take the passenger cap into account when allocating take-off and landing slots to airlines for the summer and winter seasons.
On Wednesday, Mr Justice Barry O’Donnell halted the authority from taking this step pending the final outcome of a High Court challenge taken by Irish airlines, Ryanair and Aer Lingus, and others.
The ruling means that the implementation of the cap is suspended until the court finally deals with the airlines’ action.
Mr Justice O’Donnell last year halted the authority from applying the cap when allocating airline slots from March to October on the same grounds.
His ruling on Wednesday extends this beyond October unless there is a material change in circumstances.
In a separate development, the Fingal County Council, responsible for housing and community, roads and transport, urban planning and development, and environment in Dublin, said that it has received a new planning application from Dublin Airport operator daa seeking to raise the passenger cap at Dublin Airport from 32million to 36million passengers per annum.
Fingal County Council has written to the airport’s administrator Daa to say that the proposed raising of the cap from its current level of 32m would require an environmental impact assessment and details of how additional traffic to the airport’s terminals would be accommodated, along with details of an updated capacity assessment to demonstrate that the airport can accommodate the higher passenger number.
Fingal County Council had released a statement saying,
"The application will be assessed by the Planning Authority in accordance with relevant national and regional planning guidance as well as the Fingal Development Plan and the Dublin Airport Local Area Plan. The Planning Authority will consult with the Aircraft Noise Competent Authority, in its role as the regulator of aircraft noise at Dublin Airport."
Ireland's Ryanair, one of the carriers challenging the passenger limit, welcomed Wednesday's ruling and said the temporary relief would allow it to add new routes and grow traffic at the airport this winter.
The carrier, Europe's largest by passenger numbers, reiterated a call for the government to intervene and scrap the cap. The recently re-elected coalition pledged in January that it would seek to do so.
Ryanair chief Michael O'Leary has welcomed the fact the Programme for Government contains commitments to end the passenger cap at Dublin Airport.
Speaking outside Leinster House after a meeting with Minister for Transport Darragh O'Brien this morning, he said:
"They're going to scrap the cap but progress is slow".
"Darragh O'Brien said he's going to move legislation within weeks. I'm not sure I necessarily believe him, but lets wait and see what they do," he said.
Mr O'Leary said he wanted to see Government action on the cap and called for legislation on the matter to be passed "within the next month or two".
The judge last December referred issues raised by Irish and US airlines relating to European Union law and the bloc’s air travel treaties with North America to the European courts.
The Court of Justice of the European Union will have to rule on those points before the airlines’ case can proceed.
Meanwhile, Irish Prime Minister Micheal Martin said this week that ministers would "do what it takes" to lift the cap but was conscience that anything it may do could be subject to legal challenge.
He was responding to a report in the Irish Times that the government had received new advice from the attorney general that includes the potential to pass legislation effectively carving the cap out from planning laws.
