DAA rules out passenger diversions during Christmas travel

The head of Dublin Airport has ruled out the possibility of people travelling home for Christmas being diverted elsewhere as it battles to remain beneath a looming annual passenger cap.

DAA chief executive Kenny Jacobs said the airport would keep to its 32 million limit but warned various non-scheduled flights would be affected in doing so and underlined his desire to see the cap lifted.

He told the Oireachtas transport committee on Wednesday the danger of not doing so would be the potential for airlines to shift their capacity to alternative hub airports such as Manchester or Edinburgh. Some airlines had already been turned away, he said.

The 32 million cap was set under a previous planning condition attached to the provision of the second terminal. Airport management, due to file a €2 billion infrastructure planning submission on December 15th, hope it can be lifted to facilitate passenger growth to 40 million by about 2028.

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In the meantime, Mr Jacobs said, everything was being done to remain within the cap, even though it was leading to “difficult choices” regarding space for charter and non-scheduled flights.

“The impact will be on general aviation, on business jets, on sports and special events,” he said.

“So things like the Europa League final [in Dublin], things like the home Six Nations [rugby fixtures] and charter jets looking to come to Dublin Airport: we may be saying that you need to go to Shannon, you need to go to Cork, you need to go to Belfast because we can’t accommodate you.”

Ahead of the meeting, committee leas cathaoirleach Senator Gerry Horkan said there was a need to remain vigilant to any possibility of passenger disruption in the run-up to the busy Christmas travel period.

Under questioning, however, Mr Jacobs ruled out any threat of homeward-bound passengers being diverted to alternative airports.

“There will be no disruption that any passengers, that any people need to be worried about family members coming home this Christmas,” he said.

However, while Mr Kenny insisted the airport would “fully comply” with the cap until such times as new planning was granted, he was challenged by committee members on its counting method.

Green Party TD Stephen Matthews and Fine Gael TD Alan Farrell both took issue with DAA’s interpretation of planning requirements. Mr Matthews pointed out that the airport had recently advertised it had already counted 32.9 million passengers this year.

Mr Jacobs said their view was that the planning related to “surface access” to terminals. Transfer passengers, those arriving and exiting on flights, were counted once, not twice and transit passengers remaining on their aircraft not at all.

DAA believes permission for its infrastructure upgrade could take two years to receive planning and another three to construct.

“By the time we build that 40 million [capacity] airport we will nearly need to be in with another application to say where does it go next,” Mr Jacobs said, agreeing with the need for a longer-term view.

“A third terminal at Dublin Airport, I think, is 20 million passengers away and 20 years away.”