EU’s top court upholds Dublin Airport passenger cap

Regulators must take a 32 million a year limit on passengers at Dublin Airport into account when allocating take-off and landing slots to airlines there, the EU’s top court ruled on Thursday.Airlines challenged the Irish Aviation Authority’s (IAA) decision to take the cap into account when allocating slots for winter 2024 at the airport, prompting an Irish judge to refer the issue to the Court of Justice EU (ECJ).The court ruled on Thursday that the IAA must take the passenger limit into account when setting the terms for allocating slots at Dublin.The ruling will not affect the IAA’s recent decision to add 28 new take off and landing slots at Dublin for next summer.READ MOREAnd Minister for Transport, Darragh O’Brien is likely to have ordered an increase in the limit to 40 million by next April, when the authority will determine how slots should be allocated for winter 2027/28.Ryanair said in a statement that the ECJ’s ruling highlighted the need for the Government to abolish the passenger cap.Planners imposed the so-called passenger cap in 2007, limiting the total capacity of terminals one and two at the airport to 32 million people a year.As the legal action stalled the cap’s implementation, Dublin Airport exceeded the 32 million figure. It handled 36.4 million people in 2025, a figure it is likely to top this year. More to follow