Aer Lingus weighs up legal action against Dublin Airport passenger cap

Aer Lingus will consider legal action against a 14.4 million winter passenger limit that regulators have imposed on Dublin Airport this winter, chief executive Lynne Embleton said on Friday.

The Irish Aviation Authority (IAA) will limit airlines operating from Dublin to 14.4 million seats from October 27th to March 29th to aid airport operator, State company DAA, in staying within a 32 million passengers-per-year cap set by planners.

On Friday, Ms Embleton said the airline would “carefully consider legal action” specifically against the IAA decision, adding that Aer Lingus did not believe the authority was right to take this step.

She repeated calls for action over the overall 32 million a year cap, warning that it was hitting the travelling public and the economy.

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“Dublin Airport is a critical piece of strategic national infrastructure, and the passenger cap issue needs to be urgently resolved – this requires both leadership from Government and action by the parties involved,” she said.

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She agreed that resolving the problem would be difficult as it was a planning issue. “Government intervention is required,” Ms Embleton said.

Aer Lingus rival Ryanair has already vowed to take legal action if the IAA move affects its historical rights to take-off and landing slots at Dublin.

The authority imposed the winter limit when deciding on the conditions for allocating slots to airlines over the October-to-March period.

[ Sports fans told to brace for impact of Dublin Airport passenger cap ]

Aer Lingus and Ryanair, Dublin’s biggest carriers, question whether the authority was entitled to do this. The IAA maintains that regulations allow it to take the controversial 32 million a year cap into account and says that DAA considers the winter limit key to its efforts to comply with this.

An Bord Pleanála imposed the 32 million cap as a condition of allowing Dublin Airport to build its new north runway.

DAA last year asked local planning authority Fingal County Council to increase the cap to 40 million in an overall application to expand airport facilities.

Ms Embleton called on the DAA to make an interim planning application to have the cap lifted while the council considers the main application. “This has not been well managed,” she added.

She was speaking after Aer Lingus reported that its operations lost €82 million in the first three months of the year, slightly worse than the €81 loss reported for the same period in 2023.

Aer Lingus blamed higher costs, noting that revenue increased and overall capacity grew 4 per cent.

The carrier will have its biggest ever North American network this summer, including new services from Dublin to Minneapolis-St Paul and Denver, along with an expanded European leisure network.

[ Airlines consider legal challenge to 14.4m winter passenger cap at Dublin Airport ]

“Our Q1 2024 financial results were in line with Q1 2023 in what is typically the weakest quarter of the year,” said Ms Embleton.

Luis Gallego, chief executive of Aer Lingus parent, International Airlines Group, repeated that the group could only allocate new aircraft to subsidiaries where it had certainty about returns.

He confirmed that an Airbus A320 XLR due to start flying for Aer Lingus this September was going to Spanish subsidiary, Iberia, as the Irish carrier was dealing with a pilots’ pay dispute.

The Labour Court is due to make recommendations to resolve the row shortly.

IAG, which also owns British Airways and Vueling, earned operating profits of €68 million in the first quarter of this year, turning around a €4 million loss for the same period in 2023.

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