The airport is forbidden from handling more than 32 million passengers a year under the terms of the planning permission DAA received in 2007 for the building of Terminal 2.
During 2024 that cap was breached when the airport handled 33.3m passengers. Fingal received complaints from 60 individuals about the alleged planning breach, which prompted a formal investigation. A warning letter was issued to the DAA, providing it with an opportunity to respond, which it did.
The council says it acknowledges the operational complexities, but the information submitted by the DAA did not constitute sufficient grounds to prevent further action. “The investigation has determined that a breach of the relevant planning conditions has occurred and remains ongoing,” a spokesperson said.
“The two-year period provides an opportunity for the DAA to progress their planning applications to increase passenger capacity at Dublin Airport or take such other steps as they consider appropriate to achieve compliance.”
In a statement, DAA said the fact that Fingal had sent an enforcement notice regarding 32 million passengers when the number would be “north of 36 million this year and heading towards 40 million before the end of the decade” was an indictment of the planning system, particularly when it comes to important transport infrastructure.
“The system is quite simply broken and needs to be overhauled urgently,” the agency said.
Tom O’Leary, the mayor of Fingal and a Fine Gael councillor, said he understood that the legal process had to be followed and the council had to issue the enforcement notice, “but this makes it even more urgent for the Government to assist in any way that they can to try and sort out the capacity issue at Dublin Airport”.
Last November the High Court prevented the Irish Aviation Authority from cutting the number of passenger seats at the airport during the March to October summer season. In April, the High Court extended the suspension of the passenger cap in order to await the determination of a separate challenge taken by Aer Lingus and Ryanair.
This is the second time Fingal has issued an enforcement notice against the DAA. In 2023 it alleged that the airport operator had breached its planning permission for the new North Runway with regard to night flights. DAA subsequently secured a temporary High Court stay on that, claiming this would force it to significantly reduce early morning flights that are crucial to transatlantic connections in particular.
DAA currently has two live planning applications related to the passenger limit. One is a non-build application to allow the airport grow and handle 36 million passengers. It was submitted in January but had to be resubmitted by the DAA after Fingal planners declared it invalid.
The airport authority has also lodged a separate planning application with Fingal for major capital works, including terminal extensions. This, it has said, would allow it to handle 40 million passengers per annum.
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