O’Leary calls for action on Dublin Airport passenger cap

The chief executive of the Ryanair Group has accused the Government of doing “nothing” to address the passenger cap at Dublin Airport.

Michael O’Leary said the coalition had “promised to scrap” the 36 million passenger limit in the Programme for Government.

Speaking at the Ryanair AGM in Dublin this morning, he said: “Nine months later, nothing’s happening.”

“We need the Government to address the passenger cap. We elected a Government. They published a programme in January, promising to remove the cap as soon as possible, and nine months later, in September, no action,” he said.

“We have a do nothing Government. We have a do nothing minister,” Mr O’Leary claimed.

The Ryanair boss also defended the airline’s decision to seek to legally challenge a planning decision limiting the number of night-time flights at Dublin Airport. The company announced earlier this week that it had applied for a High Court judicial review.

The airline has said the restrictions, announced by An Coimisiún Pleanála (ACP) in July, amounted to “an illegal second movements cap.”

Ryanair said the ACP ruling will “delay much-needed investment and growth at Dublin Airport” and “will block early morning pre-7am arrivals, which are vital for transatlantic landings between 5am and 7am”.

In its decision, the planning watchdog extended the operating hours of the new north runway to between 6am and midnight. Previously, there had been a ban on landing or taking off from that runway between 11pm and 7am.

As a result, the number of flights permitted at the airport on its two runways was also increased from an average of 65 a night to 95 between 11pm and 7am, with a limit of 35,672 a year.

Michael O’Leary said Ryanair had no choice but to go court to get an injunction.

“This country needs a bit of leadership. Micheál Martin and Simon Harris won’t provide it. So, sadly we have to go to the courts to get these stupid caps, illegal caps removed.”

Mr O’Leary said he believes the July decision “might be more helpful, because it’s going to block transatlantic flights landing in Dublin Airport.”

“I suspect that’s going to enrage the White House and maybe, perhaps, when the White House stops Aer Lingus landing in the US, Micheál Martin and Simon Harris will finally get up off their arses and get these illegal caps abolished,” he said.

The Ryanair boss said “investments are already being lost” due to the caps.

He claimed Dublin Airport traffic this year would be about a million higher if it had not had to deal with these illegal caps last winter.

“We’ve lost about a million passengers at Dublin this year. That’s about 750 jobs. And all the Government’s own statistics show that tourism numbers in this country are falling, when they should be rising,” Mr O’Leary stated.

“We want to grow in this country, but we can’t, because we have illegal caps on a two runway airport at Dublin Airport, and a do nothing Government that won’t get up off its arse and pass the legislation, despite the fact they have a 20 seat majority, to scrap these caps,” he added.

O’Leary warns of years-long impact on European airlines from Russia-Ukraine war

Michael O’Leary also warned today that the Russia-Ukraine war would be an ongoing issue for all European airlines for years to come, a day after Poland shot down suspected Russian drones in its airspace.

Warsaw Chopin and Modlin airports, as well as Rzeszow and Lublin airports in the country’s east, temporarily closed before resuming operations after Poland shot down the drones early yesterday.

Air-traffic control services all over Europe were significantly impacted and only 60% of Ryanair’s flights were on time, compared to a normal rate of around 90%, Michael O’Leary said. Flights from Scandinavia and the Baltic states in particular were impacted.

“This is going to be an ongoing issue for all airlines and all European citizens for the next number of years,” he said in comments at the company’s annual general meeting.

Polish F-16 fighter jets, Dutch F-35s, Italian AWACS surveillance planes, and NATO mid-air refuelling aircraft scrambled in an operation to shoot down drones entering Polish airspace from Tuesday evening until morning, officials said.

The impact of the incident, which marked the first time a member of NATO is known to have fired shots during the war, was discussed at a meeting of the company’s board of directors yesterday, the airline boss said.

“I think we expect more disruptions, unless the European, the EU and the White House, take some firm stick, preferably in the form of sanctions, penal sanctions, on Russia,” O’Leary told journalists after the AGM.

“This kind of irritant – Russia playing games with Europe – will continue,” he said.

Meanwhile, Ryanair may not return to Israel when violence related to the Gaza war recedes, the Group CEO said today, adding that the airline was being “messed around” by airport authorities there.

“I think there is a real possibility that we won’t bother going back to Israel when the current violence” recedes, Mr O’Leary said.

The airline earlier this summer said it would not return to Israel until October 25 at the earliest.

Ryanair shares moved higher in Dublin trade today.