Dublin Airport passenger cap now ‘a joke’ among airlines, says Willie Walsh

He claims the Government needs to intervene on the issue, and that passengers will face higher air fares to fly in and out of Dublin while the cap remains in place and demand remains strong.

“Quite honestly, this could only happen in Ireland,” said Mr Walsh. “It’s sad to see it. It’s something people are joking about now. It’s very disappointing [and] frustrating. Hopefully we’ll see some common sense in relation to that.”

Dublin Airport’s annual passenger traffic is capped at 32 million under a planning condition attached in 2007 to the construction of Terminal 2.

“Outside of Ireland, it’s become a joke,” Mr Walsh said. “I speak to international airlines who want to serve the Irish market, they want to serve it through Dublin. They’re not going to fly to Shannon and Cork – they’re absolutely crystal clear about that.”

“For them, Dublin is serving the Irish market, and they can’t, because we have this restriction.”

Mr Walsh, who is also the former…