The escalating quarrel about the passenger limit at Dublin Airport encapsulates broader economic tensions throughout Ireland, which are expected to significantly impact consumers. This situation arises from the overlap of economic elements, demands from consumers and climate stressors.
As elaborated by Barry O’Halloran in his thorough analysis this week, the airport’s limit restricts passenger numbers to 32 million annually. The constraint, set by Fingal County Council, was initiated as a planning prerequisite for the construction of the second terminal and the expansion of Terminal 1 in 2007. The restriction wasn’t imposed to limit emissions, but instead to lessen the strain on the surrounding road infrastructure.
Fast track 17 years later, after enduring a severe economic downturn and a pandemic that saw passenger numbers plummet to just 7.4 million yearly, the airport almost reached its limit last year, allowing travel to 31,908,471 passengers across both terminals.
Both Ryanair and Aer Lingus are united against this limit, citing heightened airfares, negative impact on tourism and reduced connectivity for Ireland’s insular economy. Ryanair’s CEO, Michael O’Leary, cautions that due to limited seating availability, ticket prices for Dublin may hit €500 for one-way travel this Christmas.
Eager to remove the limit, the Dublin Airport Authority is appealing to Fingal County Council to expand the annual limit to 40 million passengers.
Despite the looming election and concerns about the cost of living amongst potential voters, the Government is treading lightly. Eamon Ryan, Minister for Transport, removed himself from the situation, citing it as a planning issue. Taoiseach Simon Harris is in favour of lifting the restriction but has not interfered.
It is anticipated that the dispute will be resolved in the courtroom, potentially on a European level, with the primary arguments around economic considerations.
The nature of any forthcoming decision will provide profound insights into the level of commitment of Ireland, and potentially Europe, towards harmonising short-term economic aspirations with long-term environmental goals, specifically those related to reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Little debate has currently occurred regarding the alignment of a surge in passenger limit with Ireland’s ambition to curtail its transport emissions by half before the end of 2030. The Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI) has found that aviation is the transport sector where emissions are growing at the fastest pace.
The record level of passenger traffic at Dublin last year necessitated a historically high usage of jet fuel: in 2033, Ireland used 1.36 billion litres of jet kerosene, a 12.7% increase compared to 2022. While overall greenhouse gas emissions in Ireland dropped to their lowest in 30 years, emissions arising from transportation remained almost the same. It’s worthy of notice that even the metric utilised to review airport activity is based on passenger numbers, a purely economic determinant, rather than other potentially impactful metrics such as carbon emissions.
Trevor White, a renowned writer, provides some insight into the mindset of the Irish airline industry regarding climate concerns based on his attendance at last month’s Irish Tourism Industry Confederation (ITIC) conference. Here, he interviewed Donal Moriarty of Aer Lingus and Kenny Jacobs of Dublin Airport Authority about the passenger cap issue. White notes that Moriarty views the passenger cap as “damaging to the environment,” and declares that it must be eliminated in order to facilitate Aer Lingus’ growth and support investment in advanced aircraft technology and environmentally friendly aviation fuel.
There’s widespread agreement on the importance of innovative technology and its potential in curbing emissions. However, based on estimates from the International Air Transport Association, Sustainable Aviation Fuel may contribute to only about 65% of the required emission cutbacks needed for the aviation industry to reach net zero CO2 emissions by 2050. And that’s still 26 years away.
In the meantime, market demand is driving skyrocketing numbers of air passengers. To provide some perspective, there’s been an almost threefold surge in air passengers passing through Dublin over the 26 years leading up to 2024.
White concludes by highlighting the urgent necessity for serious deliberation about responsible ambition and the importance of reducing air travel, which is the sole viable strategy in the short term, to meaningfully lessen the effects of aviation on our ecosystem.
This is a grave discussion given our island existence, the fact that our major indigenous industry is tourism and that climate change poses a serious and immediate threat to the human race’s future.
This weekend offers a variety of intriguing topics, from the unexpected findings of DNA testing to the influence of the world’s wealthiest individual. Sheila Wayman brings us an insight into the realm of genetic genealogy, a field where curiosity can instigate unpredictable results and provoke an emotional whirlwind.
Dr Maurice Gleeson, a professional genetic genealogist and a retired medical professional, cautions that anyone contemplating a DNA test must be prepared for potential shocks. These could range from discovering an unknown half-sibling or an unknown offspring for some men, or realising their adoption and that their actual parents aren’t their biological ones.
Meanwhile, Mark O’Connell decides to zero in on Elon Musk for the weekend, suggesting we could gain insightful knowledge about our world and its complexity by scrutinising its wealthiest inhabitant. He encourages people to consider, by the simplest materialistic standards, why Musk, the richest man on earth, is seen as the epitome of success and what that says about our society.
Sally Hayden remains on the ground in Lebanon, reporting on the effect of Israeli attacks on civilians. She paints a vivid picture of the eerie calm in the village of Ain el Delb after the rescue operations have ceased, only a few days after an Israeli missile strike. The strike completely destroyed an apartment building, tragically claiming at least 45 lives with the nauseating scent over the area hinting that not all victims were found.
As election-related speculations are rampant, Harry McGee analyses the increasing trend of political parties using well-known “names” for their campaigns. Gráinne Seoige is the most recent addition to this trend, causing quite the commotion when she revealed her plans to compete for Fianna Fáil’s Galway West selection convention in September. Even after more than ten years away from the pinnacle of Irish broadcasting, as McGee observes, Seoige’s star quality persists as she joins the electoral race.
This weekend promises a wealth of sports commentary, focused especially on the reactions to and deconstruction of Leinster’s decisive triumph over Munster, witnessed in person by an unprecedented crowd of over 80,000 spectators. This was a record-breaking attendance for a URC club game. Getty Thornley, in his post-game examination, notes that despite a challenging start, Munster managed to hold their heads high as they left Dublin. He conveys that they have seemingly been weathered down before their upcoming journey to South Africa due to numerous HIAs, injuries and many disruptions marring their frontrow. Malachy Clerkin, scrutinising the game, observes that Munster shouldn’t have been taken aback by the robust offence from Leinster early on in the game. Their current trend of losing early tries should have been another sign. He also provides insights from the post-game response by Munster coach Graham Rowntree. Tonight, viewers can expect thorough coverage and review of Ireland’s interaction with Greece. In this week’s ‘On the Money’ newsletter, Dominic Coyle discusses the often overlooked fees charged by AIB, BoI and PTSB, and provides guidance on how to mitigate these costs.