Dublin Airport is not experiencing any impact from the squeeze on jet fuel supplies and fallout from the US-Israel conflict with Iran that has closed a vital Middle East shipping lane.
The State’s biggest gateway expects to handle 11 million passengers this summer, but conceded that the business faces uncertainty sparked by geopolitical tensions.
Dublin Airport managing director Gary McLean said on Thursday that the business had yet to see any impact from the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.
The shut down of the Strait of Hormuz, hitting up to 20 per cent of European jet fuel supplies, has prompted some airlines to axe services.
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McLean said that airlines at Dublin, whose biggest carriers are Ryanair and Aer Lingus, contract for their own fuel supplies, while the airport manages the infrastructure.
“In the short term, we are not seeing any impact on supply,” he said.
Ryanair and Aer Lingus recently confirmed that they had cut some services, but said it was not on the back of fuel supply problems.
McLean noted that airlines flying to the Middle East were operating at about two-thirds of their normal level “but that’s a network issue rather than a Dublin issue”, he said.
More than 100,000 people will travel through Dublin every day from the start of June to the end of August, said State company DAA, which operates the airport, on Thursday.
DAA maintains that demand for travel in and out of the Republic continues to grow despite geopolitical uncertainty.
Dublin Airport will “welcome around 11 million passengers” over the summer, 2 per cent more than during same period in 2025, the company predicted.
DAA and the travel industry generally are waiting on Minister for Transport Darragh O’Brien to publish legislation allowing him to axe a controversial 32 million-a-year limit on passengers at Dublin.
The so-called passenger cap, imposed by planners in 2007, has angered airlines and prompted warnings from Irish carriers Aer Lingus and Ryanair that it could wreak massive economic damage.
It has also sparked a formal complaint from North American airlines, which says it breaches EU-US air travel treaties.
Legal action has stalled the cap’s implementation, allowing the airport to overtake the limit in recent years.
More than 36.4 million travelled through Dublin in 2025. The airport could exceed that figure this year.
The Oireachtas Joint Committee on Transport could publish a report on the proposed law this week following hearings with the airlines, the DAA and regulators in late March.
McLean noted that O’Brien has pledged to publish the legislation and bring it before the Oireachtas quickly. “Timing is of the essence here,” he said.
EU courts are due to rule shortly on questions raised by a legal challenge brought by airlines to the cap. If politicians fail to pass the proposed bill ahead of that, it could force regulators to cut take-off and landing slots allocated to airlines next summer, sparking a sharp reduction in passengers at Dublin.
Dublin Airport is seeking planning permission to extend its facilities and to increase the yearly limit to 40 million. Airport management has held talks with planners and the Airport Noise Competent Authority on the application.
Planning authority Fingal County Council is likely to decide on this in coming months or early in 2027, industry sources suggest. Challenges are likely to any decision planners make, so the process could stretch past next year.
Dublin Airport has continued to expand facilities and recently opened a new lounge, The Phoenix, in terminal one.
It has also extended the shopping areas and brought in new restaurants and bars. Most of the work is focused on “improving the passenger experience”, said McLean.
