The Dublin Airport Authority has been issued with an enforcement notice by Fingal County Council for breaching the passenger cap.
Chief executive of the DAA Kenny Jacobs told The Anton Savage Show that the local body should have waited for direction from the courts or Government before issuing this notice.
“The consequences of this are very serious,” he said.
“The Irish High Court has already decided this matter and the slots regulation is complex and they’ve sent it to the European Court of Justice; Fingal should have waited for that decision.
“They should wait for the Government, who have a policy of removing the cap at Dublin Airport, and we understand legislation is coming on that.
“And they should have worked with us on planning – there are other alternatives available to them to be proactive, to be focused on the future.”
Photo: Damien Storan/PA © PA Archive/PA ImagesMr Jacobs said no one is disputing the fact that the airport is indeed in breach of the cap of 32 million passengers a year.
“We’re publicly communicating our monthly passenger stats, and we are going to be up about 36.3 million passengers this year,” he said.
“The High Court has already decided that we don’t control the slots process – that's what determines the passenger numbers.
“The IAA, who is the aviation regulator, controls the slot process, so there’s nothing we can do to control the number of passengers in order to comply with what Fingal wants us to comply with, which is an 18-year-old planning condition.”
According to Mr Jacobs, this is the “worst possible look for Irish aviation and Irish industry as we’re looking to grow in these times of tariffs”.
Main image: Dublin airport from above. Image: Don Mennig / Alamy. 11 May 2019
