Airlines for America says cap is in direct violation of Open Skies agreement between the United States and EU
Keith Glatz, the senior vice president, international affairs, for Airlines for America, insisted the cap is in direct violation of the Open Skies agreement between the United States and the EU that permits extensive access rights to each jurisdiction for carriers from either region.
Dublin Airport’s passenger cap limits passenger numbers to 32 million a year. It’s a planning condition attached in 2007 to the construction of Terminal 2. The government pledged in its election manifesto to remove the cap as soon as possible. However, it remains in place.
Airlines for America represents major US carriers, such as Delta, United, American Airlines and JetBlue, which also serve Dublin.
Mr Glatz said Airlines for America has so far not raised the cap issue directly with the US government.
He added that Donald Trump has been clear that he wants to “right-size” the US relationship with global governments where US businesses are being treated unfairly or governments are not complying with international obligations.
“It would be a shame for this issue to get co-opted into this larger dispute,” he said. “It’s eminently solvable. I just don’t see any rationale for a cap on flights between the US and Dublin.”
“We’ve been trying over the last year to make sure this issue never got onto the agenda on the White House,” said Mr Glatz, adding that the lobby group has been trying to take every step short of asking the US government to intervene.
“Once I make that request, then it’s out of our hands. The Irish government can solve this before it becomes a larger trade dispute,” he added. “We’re still optimistic that that’s what’s going to happen and that’s our goal.”
“Any time the Irish government fails to comply with its international obligations under any treaty, aviation or otherwise, it endangers Irish business interests abroad.”
Mr Glatz declined to speculate as to what specific measures the US government could take if the issue is not satisfactorily addressed.
However, it’s possible that the US government could take reciprocal measures that might impact Aer Lingus, for example. Any such measures could hamper its route network from Dublin to the United States, where it now serves almost 20 cities.
“The time to act is now,” said Mr Glatz. “This doesn’t need to turn into a dispute that would rise to the level of some of the others that you’ve seen between the US and EU that are currently ongoing.”
The Irish government has touted potential legislation to deal with the cap. However, that could take months – even until next year, before it’s law.
“I think it’s in the very interest of this [Irish] government to act as soon as possible to get this legislation sorted,” said Mr Glatz. “I am extremely optimistic that when the Irish government puts its mind to doing what is right for the Irish citizenry, we’re not talking about a year, we’re probably taking about a couple of months.”
Mr Glatz said Airlines for America is also raising the cap issue with US media this week.
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