Minister seeks AG’s advice on Dublin airport passenger cap

Minister for Transport Darragh O’Brien said he has had “positive talks” with North American airlines lobbying to end Dublin Airport’s 32 million a year passenger limit. It comes as he disclosed he has sought the advice of Attorney General (AG), Rossa Fanning, on “legislative options” for lifting the limit. Planners imposed the cap on the State’s biggest airport in 2007 as a condition of allowing it to build a second terminal. O’Brien said he had a “good meeting” with Airlines for America (A4A), which represents US and Canadian carriers, when the industry group met him last week to discuss the Government’s pledge to lift the cap. “What I would say is that the meeting was very positive,” he said. The Minister acknowledged that A4A could formally complain to the US department of transportation, potentially sparking retaliatory restrictions on Irish or even EU airlines’ access to airports there. He confirmed that US airlines raised this but “in a very positive, collegiate way”. O’Brien added that the Government preferred to deal with US-European trade issues, including tariffs announced last week by president Donald Trump, through negotiation alongside the EU. A4A argues that the passenger cap potentially breaches EU-North American air travel agreements which allow US, Canadian and EU airlines free access to each other’s skies and airports. The industry group last year joined a High Court challenge to the cap brought by Ryanair and Aer Lingus that resulted in key questions being referred to the Court of Justice EU. O’Brien said on Monday that he was awaiting a response from the AG - the State’s most senior legal adviser - on legislative options was waiting for his response.<br/>