Minister calls on Aer Lingus to use Cork and Shannon instead of Dublin amid passenger cap row

Minister of State at the Department of Transport James Lawless met with Aer Lingus Chief Executive Officer Lynne Embleton and Chief Corporate Affairs Officer Donal Moriarty on September 18th to discuss the passenger cap at Dublin Airport.

This meeting continues Minister Lawless’ consultation process with key stakeholders on the passenger cap and other aviation issues. Meetings have been scheduled with, the Irish Aviation Authority, Ibec, and the daa among others. It follows a consultation meeting held with Ryanair on 11 September.

Speaking after the meeting, Minister Lawless said:

“This was a positive and productive meeting.  We had a constructive discussion about Aer Lingus’ business model, which uses Dublin Airport as a hub to connect traffic flows between Europe and North America.  This approach supports our aviation policy objective to develop Dublin Airport as a hub airport.  It is government policy to optimise our airport network to ensure maximum connectivity to the rest of the world.

“We discussed the challenges presented by the 32m passenger cap and the impact that any restriction on night time movements at Dublin Airport would have on Aer Lingus’ business. We also discussed potential mitigations to limit the impact of the passenger cap.

“As I have said previously, my objective is to ensure that connectivity to and from Ireland can continue to grow. I believe this can be achieved in the short to medium term, through our other airports at Cork and Shannon which are ready and able to take more passengers.

“I will continue meeting with other stakeholders this week including the International Air Transport Association to hear their views and potential solutions on this matter, so that the impact of this constraint on the travelling public, business and tourism might be kept to a minimum. Along with my ministerial and government colleagues, I look forward to exploring fresh proposals to resolve this impasse.”