Analysis: There is another way to lift the cap without increasing emissions
Ireland can be a global leader by linking any increase in the airport passenger cap to progress on reducing carbon emissions
“Other EU airports are now laughing at Ireland’’, quipped Ryanair’s Michael O’Leary in demanding action on the passenger cap at Dublin Airport.
In response to his open letter, policymakers should take a leaf out of Ryanair’s book and turn Dublin Airport into an innovation leader in the path towards sustainable aviation. This is not as farfetched as it might seem.
Over recent weeks, two opposing arguments have dominated the news.
The first argument is that increasing the cap will substantially drive up emissions resulting from flights to and from Dublin. For this reason, no extension to the flight cap should be granted. This argument is well founded. According to the planning application submitted by DAA, the proposed increase in passenger numbers to 40 million per annum corresponds to an annual increase of up to 22 per cent in carbon emissions.
