Dublin Airport will exceed a cap of 32 million passengers this year, airport operator DAA has told Newstalk.
It says it will exceed the cap by one million passengers - bringing the estimated final tally to 33 million people.
The airport operator said that it was caught 'between a rock and hard place' as it could not control the number of slots allocated and did not want to stifle economic growth by limiting the number of people who could use the airport.
Speaking to Joe Lynam on Breakfast Business, DAA chief executive Kenny Jacobs said there has to be a solution to the cap.
"We're a commercial business, we want to grow but we also want to comply with planning as any business needs to and should," he said.
"At this stage now the cap at Dublin Airport it's not an aviation issue, it's not a transportation issue, this is an Ireland issue.
"This is really going to cost jobs."
'A real risk' to jobs
Mr Jacobs said the cap is outdated and needs to change.
"The passenger cap is 16 years old, it is out of date because it's driven really by traffic congestion that no longer exists coming to Dublin Airport," he said.
"Planning in Ireland is slow, we need more joined up infrastructure thinking across the country because there's a real risk now that jobs will be lost next year.
"There's a million passengers to come out of Dublin Airport next year - if that happens, that's 1,000 aviation jobs gone [and] that's a dent to tourism".
DAA CEO Kenny Jacobs speaking to Breakfast Business, 4-9-24. Image: NewstalkMr Jacobs said restricting aviation is "not the right look" for Ireland internationally.
"We've discouraged seven new airlines that wanted to come to Dublin," he said.
"Two existing American carriers wanted to add capacity and two low-cost carriers wanted to come to Dublin and then there's other full-service carriers.
"Things are starting to slow economically and we need to tell the world that we are open and that you can come and you can grow your business here.
"We're turning away airlines - every other airport around Europe is trying to attract them to their airport whereas we're saying, 'No you can't grow anymore at Dublin'".
A Ryanair jet is seen at Dublin Airport in September 2017. Picture by: Niall Carson/PA Archive/PA ImagesDAA said it had introduced measures to cool demand in the autumn and winter - including encouraging more airlines to use Cork Airport - and these had reduced the number of expected passengers through Dublin by 675,000.
Ryanair, which is the biggest single user of Dublin Airport, has regularly criticised the passenger cap of 32 million telling Newstalk Breakfast last month the cap could mean travellers having to pay up to €500 to get home for Christmas.
A dampening of passenger numbers is expected from late autumn as a result of a winter slot decision from the Irish Aviation Authority (IAA).
The move reduces the number of seats airlines flying into Dublin Airport can offer to passengers between November and March.
Some airlines operating at Dublin have also decided to reduce the scale of their operations because of the passenger cap.
Both Ryanair and DAA have requested a judicial review of the cap while the airport operator applies for new planning permission with Fingal County Council to raise the cap to 40 million passengers per year through Dublin.
It is not clear how the council will respond to the breach of the terms of the original 2008 permission granted to DAA which set the cap at 32 million passengers.
An exterior view of Dublin Airport's Terminal 2 in June 2016. Picture by: Jon Arnold Images Ltd / Alamy Stock PhotoIt comes as DAA said that August had been the busiest month ever in the 84-year history of Dublin Airport with 3.46 million passengers going through its doors.
The week of August 12th was the busiest week ever with 829,000 passengers, while Sunday August 18th was the busiest day with 124,600 passengers.
Between May and August, over 10 million passengers passed through Dublin Airport. This brings the total number to 22.7 million passengers so far in 2024.
Mr Jacobs added that if Dublin had these passenger numbers every day it "would already be a 40-million-passenger airport."
Newstalk has contacted Fingal County Council, Ryanair, Aer Lingus and the Government for comment.
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Additional reporting: Jack Quann
