Dublin Airport warned over passenger cap breach

By Gráinne Ní Aodha, PA

Dublin Airport has been issued with a warning over breaching its passenger cap.

A 32 million passenger cap, a planning condition issued by the airport’s local authority, has come under legal and political scrutiny.

Airlines, including Ryanair and Aer Lingus, have called for the cap to be removed to promote economic and tourism growth, while others have said that Ireland’s efforts to reduce its emissions will be hampered by lifting the restriction.

Fingal County Council said on Friday it had issued an enforcement notice to airport operator DAA, giving it two years to comply with the planning conditions.

A spokesperson for Fingal County Council said: “The two-year period provides an opportunity for DAA to progress their planning applications to increase passenger capacity at Dublin Airport or take such other steps as they consider appropriate to achieve compliance.”

Planning permissions granted in 2008 for the construction of Terminal 2 and the extension of Terminal 1 stated that the combined capacity of both terminals must not exceed 32 million passengers a year.

The council received complaints that these planning conditions were breached in 2023 and 2024.

The planning authority’s enforcement unit initiated a formal investigation to assess compliance with the conditions.

The DAA was provided with an opportunity to respond, which it did.

Fingal County Council said it acknowledged there were “operational complexities”, but said the information submitted by the DAA does not constitute sufficient grounds to prevent further action.

The council said the investigation determined that a breach of the relevant planning conditions “has occurred and remains ongoing”.

As a result, the enforcement notice was issued to the airport by Fingal County Council, giving Dublin Airport two years to bring its operations into compliance.