US airlines have filed a formal complaint against Dublin Airport’s passenger cap with the United States Department of Transport, claiming it breaches Ireland’s legal obligations.
Responding to the complaint, the Taoiseach confirmed the Government intends to remove the cap through legislation, which received Cabinet approval last year.
Speaking in Shanghai at the end of a four-day visit to China, Micheál Martin said the decision has been made, and the legislation is being drafted.
“The Government has made a very clear decision,” he said.
“The cap will be removed, and that will be ruled by legislation, and that will happen. And the legislation is being drafted right now. And that was approved some time ago by the Government. There’s no question in my mind that that has to be delivered upon,” he said.
Airlines for America (A4A), which represents the US airline industry, said the cap on the maximum number of passengers travelling through Dublin Airport, which has been set at 32 million per year since 2008, violates European Union (EU) regulations and transport agreements with the US. It described it as “an unjustifiable and unreasonable discriminatory and anticompetitive practice”.
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The complaint under the US International Air Transportation Fair Competitive Practices Act claims that enforcing the cap, which was breached in 2023 and 2024, could result in some US airlines losing their existing slot rights as capacity at the airport is limited.
“The only reason US carriers have not yet lost historic slots at Dublin Airport is because A4A, along with Aer Lingus and Ryanair, are challenging the passenger cap in the Irish High Court and successfully obtained a stay of the passenger cap while the legal challenge continues,” the complaint said.
It called on the US government to enforce the provisions of the US-EU Air Transport Agreement.
Airport operator DAA has submitted a planning application to Fingal County Council to increase the cap to 40 million. However, a decision is not expected on that until next year.
Earlier this week, Minister for Transport, Darragh O’Brien said he does not believe a cap should be imposed on passenger numbers in the airport at all. However, proposals to scrap the cap have met resistance from senior civil servants.
The Minister received Cabinet approval in late September to draft legislation to end the cap and reclassify the airport as national infrastructure for planning purposes. That could take months to complete, with Mr O’Brien aiming for full enactment by the end of the year.
On Thursday, a spokeswoman for Mr O’Brien said work is progressing “at pace” on the preparation of the legislation, and the minister will bring the heads of bill to Cabinet “shortly to seek agreement on “the proposed legislative approach”.
The spokeswoman said that it is “worth noting” that the passenger cap “currently has no effect on the allocation of slots at Dublin Airport”, because of the stay the High Court has placed on its application, pending the outcome of decision from the Court of Justice of the European Union.
In its complaint, A4A claims the Government could remove the cap immediately through emergency legislation.
Ryanair welcomed the move, saying the Government’s failure to deliver on promises to scrap the limit was “an international embarrassment for Ireland”.
“Ireland now faces censure in the EU courts over this illegal airport traffic cap, and now runs the real risk that the US Dept of Transport will block Aer Lingus flights landing in the US, solely because Micheál Martin – with a 20 seat majority – has failed for 13 months to do anything to deliver his Government promise to scrap this illegal cap ‘as soon as possible’,” Ryanair chief executive Michael O’Leary said.