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Who actually wants the Dublin Airport passenger cap abolished?

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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,896 ✭✭✭Lillyfae


    Yes but currently someone working in Apple or Janssen or MSD will have to do exactly that because there isn't a flight to Cork from Amsterdam, Brussels, Cologne or Dusseldorf.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 14,682 ✭✭✭✭Red Silurian


    Ignoring the fact you can take a ferry for the ~100km journey to Wales and drive the rest of the way and therefore don't need amphibious cars… Not all flights are across water, we have flights between Kerry/Dublin and Donegal/Dublin. Look at mainland Europe or USA and you will see flights connecting major cities that have road connections also.

    Now if you have a very small, fuel efficient, car that you load up to maximum capacity then maybe your emissions are lower (and your cost is higher) by driving than flying.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 9,815 ✭✭✭Tenzor07


    The issue is of course that the Ferry's are usually booked out well in advance, plus the cost of a return journey with car can be many multiples of the airfare costs.

    And it's not possible to leave your house at 6am to be in London for a meeting at 9am.

    So we don't have a realistic option other than to increase the number of flights from Dublin airport thus bringing down costs and improving choices of routes.



  • Moderators, Politics Moderators, Paid Member Posts: 45,280 Mod ✭✭✭✭Seth Brundle


    You're implying that current demand is not being met and we need more flights yet you don't really hear of people unable to come here when they need to.

    I woukd consider the wish by DAA & the airlines is simply to help create new demand

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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 9,815 ✭✭✭Tenzor07


    I think though that 32m is too low based on current demand: https://www.dublinairport.com/latest-news/2025/10/03/passenger-numbers-soared-to-record-levels-at-dublin-airport-in-september

    I'm not saying that capacity should be doubled or anything, 40m would be sufficient, and would allow more airlines to place aircraft here and create further passenger numbers.



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  • Moderators, Sports Moderators Posts: 7,595 Mod ✭✭✭✭cdeb


    There's no maybe about it - I disproved this for you and you've ignored that post, which isn't really debating in good faith, is it?

    Air travel is significantly higher in emissions than car travel, except maybe for one person in a big SUV or something like that. Here's an article on the BBC looking at that for example.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2, Paid Member Posts: 9,914 ✭✭✭blackwhite


    There's usually 12 departures daily from Ireland to Wales between Dublin and Rosslare - and less than 5% of sailings ever hit maximum car or passenger capacity.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 14,682 ✭✭✭✭Red Silurian


    I'm not sure where the BBC come up with their calcs but a bit of basic maths suggest the airplanes in their examples emit 320g/km which is far in excess of the 70g/km Boeing have quoted. Usually they are fairly trustworthy mind so I would be inclined to believe them

    I'm not against cutting airline emissions, or indeed keeping the cap, but it's like anything in that we need to have a viable alternative in place. Unless there's plans to build a tunnel under the Irish or Celtic seas or prices of ferrys are coming down anytime soon then I don't see how we can just stop people flying

    I left my house this morning at 8am and was in a meeting with some lads from our yorkshire office at 9:15am. Zoom is great for things like that



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 14,682 ✭✭✭✭Red Silurian


    Would the roads around Dublin be able to handle the extra 8m a year? They are fairly choked as it is. If it was part of wider plans for a rail link or an outer M50 I think the argument could be made. There's also loads of capacity at Shannon and Cork that could be utilised first



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 9,815 ✭✭✭Tenzor07


    Which is all well and good unless you have to be in Yorkshire at 9am to repair a system/machine directly, or meet an important customer face to face that you can't do virtually… suits some job roles but not all.

    Like I’ve said before we're on an island at the edge of Europe, next stop Canada/U.S. We can't hop in our EV's in Brussels for a morning meeting in Amsterdam for instance, we need Airlines at good time/costs and availability to maintain our competitiveness and jobs market…look at the large E.U agencies that have gone to centrally accessible cities such as Frankfurt.

    As much as environmentalists may bemoan the increase in air traffic, if the planes don't come here they will go to Manchester, Glasgow, London etc.



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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2, Paid Member Posts: 21,898 ✭✭✭✭Bass Reeves


    There is no reason for them not to either. Anything west of Portlaois and thete is little difference for Portlaois and some parts east of it iwould be in Shannon as fast as Dublin Airport. It's too easy for airlines to insist on using Dublin rather than travel.20 minutes further to Shannon or Cork. It's also easier when you ue a single hub to reorganise flights and schedules.

    Will the Metro be that much of a game changer. Anyone from outside Dublin going by car will continue to. More from outside Dublin may change to cars because of hotel prices.

    Ya it may change some drop off options, however if you are getting into a car for part if the journey you will use the car for the complete journey. It will mostly reduce taxi options

    Slava Ukrainii



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 9,815 ✭✭✭Tenzor07


    Do we sit here for another 25 years with restricted growth at Dublin airport while we wait for the next round of Government promises for new roads, new rail, undergrounds etc. or with a flick of the pen remove the cap, bring in the revenue that will pay for the infrastructure improvements this country needs to grow…



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 9,815 ✭✭✭Tenzor07


    What's the cost of a return ticket for driver and car at short notice?



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2, Paid Member Posts: 9,914 ✭✭✭blackwhite


    You claimed that the ferries are regularly sold out - that’s a lie.
    The price doesn’t change that

    As it happens - I’m in favour of the Dublin airport cap being removed. It’s idiotic and bad for the country.


    That doesn’t mean I need to lie about other means of transport to push my case



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,763 ✭✭✭JVince


    terribly simplistic and dreadfully wrong

    1 - Irish people living in Ireland use the airport. Imagine that. They have their own homes. No need to stay 3 nights in a Dublin hotel

    2 -Irish people living abroad use the airport. They tend to stay with family. More flying options can lead to more visits

    If you are on a plane departing from, or arriving to Dublin, the vast majority of accents are Irish. Both who live here and who live abroad. My brother lives in Seattle. Since Aer lingus direct flights became available, he'll pop over here 3 or 4 times a year. Previously it was once.

    The other advantage of no cap is that more destinations become available. That in turn makes Ireland high on the list of connectivity and that it turns makes Ireland attractive to international firms. THAT creates jobs and more well paid jobs means more spending that filters all the way down to the student earning a few bob waiting on tables or working in a local shop.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2, Paid Member Posts: 21,898 ✭✭✭✭Bass Reeves


    The metro will cost 10-20 billion, knowing Irish infrastructure costs it will probably be on the higher end. We have significant other infrastructure costs coming down the line that no budget provision is in place for, housing, water and electricity mainly. The main beneficiaries of removing the cap will be airlines and existing hotels that can jack up there prices further.

    At this stage it makes most sense not to remove it and over time airlines will use another hub

    Slava Ukrainii



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2, Paid Member Posts: 9,914 ✭✭✭blackwhite


    There’s load of capacity in Shannon and Cork that would already be used if there was actually any demand for it. Airlines want to fly into Dublin because that’s where the demand is.


    The additional 8m pax won’t all be hitting the road network either - the cap counts transfer passengers who never even leave the airport.



  • Moderators, Sports Moderators Posts: 7,595 Mod ✭✭✭✭cdeb


    Well I've told you where the maths came from as well, but fair dues for at least acknowledging the point. Boeing have a particular interest in greenwashing for obvious reasons so aren't to be trusted here. Ryanair make a similar claim about their emissions (around 64g/pax km) and again it's false for the reasons I've said - and as I say, they've been banned by the ASA from talking about their green credentials. I hope you can stop repeating the myth that driving is more damaging than flying now.

    You say we need a viable alternative in place, and while that's true, there's also an element of build it and they will come. Up until the 80s, very few Irish people flew. Dublin Airport had 5.1 million passengers in 1989, and that was the highest all decade. If people were going to Britain or the continent, they got the ferry - we had a long-established passenger terminal in Dún Laoghaire. But Dún Laoghaire ferry port is now closed, because people stopped using it.

    So to a large extent, the issue is with the people. If people get over their notions that it's not possible to go to London or even further afield by land, despite the fact that we managed to do that for generations, then things would change. (You say prices need to come down - I think they're fairly good, and an interrail ticket reduces them even further. I have no problems removing subsidies for domestic flights or taxing plane fuel and putting subsidies onto greener travel instead)

    Similarly, the idea we need to fly Bulgarians in to pick fruit or Indians in to work in shops needs to be challenged - and if that means the prices of things goes up, then we need to accept that.

    But we're an inherently selfish species and I wouldn't hold out much hope of any of that unfortunately.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 9,815 ✭✭✭Tenzor07


    Maybe it's just in my experience when I wanted to get a Ferry at the time I wanted, during public holidays, so not a lie just experience, and the costs are huge compared to airlines…



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2, Paid Member Posts: 9,914 ✭✭✭blackwhite


    So your “usually booked out well in advance” was actually one occasion when you wanted a short notice option?

    Costs depend on how you compare.


    As a pure, passenger only, point to point, a sail-rail ticket will be normally cheaper than airfare plus transport to city centre - as will a eurolines bus+ferry ticket. But it will take a significantly longer travel time.


    For taking a car - cost comparison is more on the basis of the standard family of four, plus cost of car rental at destination. On that basis a ferry is cheaper. If someone doesn’t require a car at the destination - then taking a car on the ferry doesn’t make much sense.



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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 9,815 ✭✭✭Tenzor07


    Irish people are great at sitting back and saying "ah sure it will cost us too much so we should wait"… and it's happened all through Governments of the past 5 decades and each decade costs go up so much that make the previous quote look like a complete bargain. Now they say the financial coffers are full and we still have no new major roads/rail projects in the Dublin area in place… I mean we could have built the NCH 20 years ago for €200 million, now it will cost a couple of €billion



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2, Paid Member Posts: 40,967 ✭✭✭✭Hotblack Desiato


    why cant we have something like glasgow prestwick. or paris beauvais.

    Because they provide a completely shyte passenger experience, much too far away from the population they supposedly serve.

    These airports would never have been built where they are, except they are relics of abandoned WWII / Cold War air bases

    It makes no sense at all from any point of view - pollution, emissions, congestion, time - to have to transport people 70km by bus to get where they are going (Paris) but that's not Ryanair's problem. These middle of nowhere airports are so desperate for business they charge no or next to no landing charges, in some cases Ryanair were paid to fly to otherwise empty airports.

    I'm partial to your abracadabra
    I'm raptured by the joy of it all



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2, Paid Member Posts: 9,914 ✭✭✭blackwhite


    I suspect any second airport for Dublin would end up like Ciudad Real in Spain.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2, Paid Member Posts: 40,967 ✭✭✭✭Hotblack Desiato


    That's never going to happen.

    If Dublin can't sustain a flight to some destination, there is no way Shannon or Cork could.

    I'm partial to your abracadabra
    I'm raptured by the joy of it all



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 9,815 ✭✭✭Tenzor07


    Not a comprehensive analysis of availability across the year but when I wanted to travel there wasn't much available at the time and cost, was also the effects of the damage to the port in Holyhead.

    I think we're going off point, which is that Car/Bus/Ferry suits people with a lot of time and who may want to transport the kitchen sink with them when going abroad but there's just no comparison with the efficiency and availability of Air-travel on an Island, which is why the Cap needs to be removed to increase that.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 14,682 ✭✭✭✭Red Silurian


    Build it and they will come… That's largely an issue with increasing the cap isn't it? If you increase the cap more people will use the airport, meaning more traffic getting into and out of the airport.

    If you rebuilt Dun Laoghaire ferryport would they come or would you also need to be competitive on price? When I was a student I twice yearly took the bus to London for €50 return from Limerick (via Roslare) so I'd argue build it, price it right, and they will indeed come.

    I think we can both agree that when the fare to London is less than the train fare to Dublin we have a serious problem. Difference is I think we should cut the train fare, not increase the air fare

    The biggest scandal going at the minute is we have Asians coming in to work in our hospitals while our medical graduates are heading off to Australia. And that's not a dig at the Asians, any of the ones I've met are very very good at what they do! But from a climate perspective it's bananas

    Why not? It's only an airport. If anything it would make all of the routes more profitable as they would have less direct competition. There's no reason why Shannon or Cork need to copy the routes already flying out of Dublin

    Not everybody who comes into Ireland wants to see Dublin, and if they do they can hop on a train or bus or rent a car to see it



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 18,701 ✭✭✭✭Idbatterim


    RRyanair Close to hitting 215 million passengers, huge amounts of new higher capacity aircraft due, looking at 300 million passengers a year by 2034...

    Dublin airport is going to be 50-60,000,000 in the next decade! Enjoy it!

    If the planes were totally silent and ran on fresh air, you'd still have locals complaining...



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 18,701 ✭✭✭✭Idbatterim


    Was going to make this point myself, but dodnt have the energy .. lads, do you know how tiny and irrelevant Cork, Shannon are for the likes of Ryanair and continental sized towns and cities ?



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 18,701 ✭✭✭✭Idbatterim


    15-10-2025 2:32pm

    Was going to make this point myself, but dodnt have the energy .. lads, do you know how tiny and irrelevant Cork, Shannon are for the likes of Ryanair and continental sized towns and cities ?



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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 18,701 ✭✭✭✭Idbatterim


    https://www.epa.ie/our-services/monitoring--assessment/climate-change/ghg/transport/

    Transport emissions here are ten times, aviation pollution... I can see all the keep turning cap gang, you might have noticed the cap is being breached , as its not legal... Dublin metro line alone, that single line. Would likely reduce emissions more than all of the dublin airport related for traffic... tumble weeds there though...



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