EU courts will decide the fate of the controversial Dublin Airport passenger limit following a ruling on Wednesday.
Airlines last week challenged key elements of the 32 million a-year passenger cap imposed by planners on the airport in the High Court.
Mr Justice Barry O’Donnell, confirmed on Wednesday that the court had decided to refer certain questions to the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU), a move sought by parties in the case.
He said it was appropriate to refer the issues to Europe before a full hearing of the case, as various EU laws were central to the issue and there was no “authoritative guidance on their interpretation and application”.
The High Court adjourned the judicial review proceedings taken by Irish and US airlines pending the CJEU’s determination.
An earlier court order, stalling the Irish Aviation Authority (IAA) from limiting airlines to a maximum of 25 million passengers from next March to October, remains in force.
The IAA proposed imposing the limit after taking the overall planning cap into account when deciding how take-off and landing slots should be allocated at Dublin Airport next summer.
Airlines are seeking increased capacity at the airport for next year, and area now expected to handle 35 million passengers at Dublin in 2025, breaching the planning cap.
The regulator imposed the summer limit submissions by airport operator, State company DAA, which pointed out that such a step was the only of implementing the planning condition.
That and a similar move by the IAA to limit airline’s winter seats to 14.4 million prompted the court challenge. Among other things they maintained that EU airport slot regulations did not permit the authority to do this.
Welcoming Justice O’Donnell’s ruling, Ryanair predicted that the European courts would deem the passenger cap illegal.
“Today’s welcome referral to Europe will now allow Ryanair to add some growth capacity at Dublin for summer 2025,” said a statement.
The group predicted that it would add new routes and boost frequencies on existing services, and also base some of its new, quieter Boeing 737 game-changer aircraft at the Irish airport.
Michael O’Leary, its chief executive, declared that the referral was good news “as it suspends this traffic cap for summer 2025″, allowing Ryanair to boost flights and tourism.
The airline pointed out that Dublin Airport’s two runways gave it capacity for up to 60 million passengers a-year.
DAA hopes that the local planning authority, Fingal County Council, will approve its request for permission to increase the limit to 40 million early next year.
However, such a move is likely to face appeals, which means that there is no definite date for a final ruling on that request, which is part of an overall application to expand the airport’s facilities.
The State company hopes to submit an interim application seeking to increase the cap to 36 million, in coming weeks.
Planning appeals board, An Bord Pleanála, imposed the 32 million a-year limit on Dublin Airport in 2007 as a condition of allowing DAA to build a second terminal there.
The condition was intended to ease fears of traffic jams on the M50 motorway and the roads to the airport, which have since been upgraded.
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