Irish regional carrier Emerald Airlines’ founder is urging the country’s leader to intervene over the controversial passenger cap being imposed on Dublin airport.
The cap is the result of a legacy condition originally introduced in 2007 which limits Dublin’s overall terminal capacity to 32 million annual passengers.
Emerald founder Conor McCarthy argues that the issue should be a national strategic priority, because it has adverse effects on tourism and the economy.
He says Taoiseach Simon Harris should take immediate action to suspend the cap altogether or discontinue its “ludicrous” inclusion of transfer passengers.
McCarthy rejects the redeployment of flights to other Irish airports – notably Shannon or Cork – as an alternative, insisting this is “not a viable solution”.
He expressed his views on the Irish radio outlet Newstalk.
“Forcing passengers to use other airports, would be a repeat of past mistakes like the failed Shannon transatlantic stopover,” adds the carrier.
“Passengers who choose to fly to or from Dublin do not wish to be forced to Cork or Shannon.”
Emerald operates regional services on behalf of Aer Lingus. It claims that, without an increase in the cap, the benefits of the new runway completed two years ago cannot be achieved, and adds that certain flight routes are threatened because slot-constrained carriers will prioritise more profitable sectors.
