Legislation to scrap Dublin Airport passenger cap to go to Cabinet this month

THE MINISTER FOR Transport is set to seek Cabinet approval this month for legislation to scrap the Dublin Airport passenger cap.

The proposed legislation would empower Darragh O’Brien to make an order to revoke or amend the 32 million passenger cap that is currently in place, and to prevent future caps. 

It comes after the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Transport published a pre-legislative scrutiny of the Dublin Airport (Passenger Capacity) Bill 2026, which warned of gaps in the bill and the possibility of legal challenges.

A spokesperson for O’Brien told The Journal that he is now in the “final stages” of bringing the legislation to government.

“Removing the Dublin airport passenger cap is a key commitment in the Programme for Government and a priority for the minister for transport, who has acted swiftly and decisively on that commitment,” the spokesperson said.

They said O’Brien will be bringing the Bill to government this month for agreement to publish.

“Enacting that legislation, to ensure that connectivity can be maintained and to facilitate further sustainable growth at the Airport, will be completed this year.”

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The passenger cap has caused controversy over the last couple of years, with Ryanair boss Michael O’Leary being a vocal critic of the government for failing to remove it.

The Department of Transport confirmed in February that the cap would be scrapped, with the rationale being that Dublin Airport is “essential” to Ireland’s future economic growth and competitiveness.

The DAA welcomed the “decisive action” from government at the time, while the Green Party said that moves to abolish the passenger cap expose a “fundamental dishonesty” in the government’s approach to climate targets.

The Transport Committee’s pre-legislative scrutiny of the Bill, published yesterday, recommended that a comprehensive independent assessment of the environmental and climate implications of removing the cap be conducted. 

It stated that the Bill only with the 32 million passenger cap and does not address the separate issue of night flights, and expressed concern that data for environmental assessments under the Bill would be collected by the daa. 

Among the other recommendations were a full review of flight paths and noise modelling, the establishment of a voluntary buyout scheme for nighttime noise and a restructuring of the Aircraft Noise Competent Authority (ANCA). 

Airline spokespeople previously told the Transport Committee that enforcing the passenger cap could have “catastrophic” economic consequences and could lead to fare increases, reduced passenger numbers and even pushback from the US government.

During Taoiseach Micheál Martin’s trip to Washington in March, a top US aviation lobbyist pressed him about speeding up the removal of the cap. 

Chris Sununu, president and CEO of Airlines for America, a powerful lobbying group based in Washington DC that represents a number of major US airlines, said he “impressed upon” Martin that the cap had to be lifted, as it is a major point of contention for US aviation officials.

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