Aer Lingus defends efforts to help overrule the passenger cap at Dublin Airport amid threats to curtail and/or suspend Ireland-US flights
Aer Lingus highlighted its work with other airlines, including US-based carriers, on getting the annual passenger cap at Dublin Airport (DUB) removed.
Aer Lingus has reiterated its efforts to fight back against the 32 million passenger cap at Dublin Airport (DUB), after Airlines for America (A4A), its partner in a lawsuit against the Irish Aviation Authority (IAA), requested the United States Department of Transportation (DOT) to either curtail or suspend Irish airlines’ services to the US in an earlier complaint.
In a filing on January 26, 2026, Aer Lingus responded to a complaint filed by A4A a few weeks ago, alleging that Ireland violated European Union (EU) slot regulations and the US-EU Air Transport Agreement (ATA) by continuing to impose the passenger cap at the Irish airport.
According to Aer Lingus, it is “in full agreement with A4A’s opposition to the” IAA’s decision to adhere to the 32 million passenger cap at DUB, noting that it is “at the forefront of the broad and multifaceted concurrent efforts through administrative, judicial, and legislative channels to prevent the Passenger Cap from causing any harm to US and other carriers operating at DUB.”
This includes efforts to work closely with A4A in a legal challenge against the cap, lobbying the Irish government to enact laws that would eliminate the per-annum passenger limit, and supporting the Dublin airport authority’s (daa) application to increase the cap from 32 million to 40 million passengers per year.
Temporary relief
Aer Lingus noted that currently, the cap is not in place following the Irish High Court’s decision to impose a stay order following a legal challenge by itself, A4A, and Ryanair, which sued the IAA following its decision to allocate slots at DUB according to the cap.
“This means that the IAA is currently prohibited from taking account of the Passenger Cap when setting capacity for DUB.”
While the Irish High Court referred three questions to the Court of Justice of the EU (CJEU), the latter’s response is “several months away at the earliest,” no US-based airline has “lost slots, been forced to reduce its traffic through DUB, or otherwise been harmed by the Passenger Cap,” Aer Lingus said.
In addition, whatever the CJEU’s final decision, the cap will most likely be removed before it would harm any carriers, either with the Irish government passing legislation, or with a successful application by the daa before the Fingal City Council (FCC).
However, the daa submitted its documents to the FCC in December 2023, and Aer Lingus estimated that the FCC could reach a decision in early 2027. Considering that A4A asked the DOT to curtail and/or suspend Irish carriers’ flights to the US if nothing was done about the cap by February 1, this path seems less than ideal.
Rytis Beresnevicius
Lobbying the Irish government
Still, Aer Lingus openly admitted that it has actively lobbied the Irish Government to enact legislation to remove the cap.
“[…] Aer Lingus has been engaged in an intensive campaign to persuade the Irish Government of the urgent need to introduce legislation to remove the Passenger Cap, emphasizing to the Irish Department of Transport, elected officials, and the public that the Passenger Cap threatens the stability of Aer Lingus’s operations and risks causing significant harm to the Irish economy.”
According to the Irish carrier, the Irish Government has reaffirmed its commitment to removing the cap and should introduce the related legislation on February 4. Aer Lingus expects that the passenger cap would be removed for the summer 2027 season, “before the Passenger Cap would result in any harm to airlines at DUB.”
Marco Polo
Some airlines are fuming that the cap is still in place. In four separate statements this month, Ryanair first blasted Micheál Martin, the Taoiseach (Prime Minister) of Ireland, nicknaming him ‘Marco Polo’ for traveling so much instead of delivering on “his year-old Govt Programme, which promised to scrap the Dublin Airport cap ‘as soon as possible’.”
On January 8, Ryanair warned that A4A’s complaint to the DOT correctly highlighted that “Ireland is in breach of its legal obligations as a result of Dublin Airport’s illegal traffic cap, which has the potential to force some US airlines to lose their existing slot rights, while also preventing other US airlines from growing their routes and traffic to Dublin […].”
On January 21, the Irish low-cost carrier – not-so-pleasantly – asked Martin to “return immediately from this week’s 'doss in Davos,’ and pass Legislation to scrap Dublin Airport’s illegal cap before the end of January.”
If the country’s Prime Minister does nothing, “the Trump Administration will block Aer Lingus flights landing in the USA, or even worse, Micheál Martin’s March trip to the White House.”
Lastly, on January 26, Ryanair requested an explanation from Simon Harris, the Tánaiste (Deputy Prime Minister) of Ireland, asking why he said that Ireland and Europe must be more competitive when his own government has failed “to scrap the illegal Dublin Airport traffic cap, which is holding back growth and investment by Ryanair and U.S airlines at Dublin Airport, because of Govt inaction and uncertainty.”
Michael O’Leary, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Ryanair, said that Ireland has become “an international embarrassment” due to the cap, “which is preventing US airlines [from] opening new routes and delivering more competitiveness here in Irish Aviation.”
However, the latter part is not so true. The IAA’s summer 2026 season capacity declaration showed that the regulator has not “included any seasonal seat cap coordination parameter” following the order by the Irish High Court.
According to the summer 2026 initial allocation report for DUB, the only US-based carrier that requested additional slots at the airport was American Airlines, which asked for 1,738 movements, receiving 1,600.
The 32 million passenger cap has been in place since 2008. Then, the approval process of the construction of Terminal 2 (in 2007) and the expansion of Terminal 1 (in 2008) imposed yearly passenger limits at the airport.
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