Eamon Ryan should resign because he is “doing nothing” to help the aviation sector, Ryanair has said. 

The budget airline has been vocal in their support for increasing the number of passengers who can travel through Dublin Airport. 

At present, the number is capped at 32 million a year but the DAA has asked Fingal County Council to increase the figure to 40 million. 

Speaking to Newstalk Breakfast, CEO Eddie Wilson described the current cap as “artificial”. 

“We’ve doubled the runway capacity at Dublin Airport and we’re going to have less flights there than when we had one runway,” Mr Wilson said. 

“So, that’s the issue we had to get over. 

“We have this idea that it’s a local planning issue; it’s not a local planning issue… It’s actually an infrastructure issue and the Minister can do something about this.” 

Dublin Airport passenger cap means tourism meant for Ireland now goes to UK, Italy, Spain…

What is being done, @EamonRyan?

Ireland, is this what you voted for?

— Ryanair (@Ryanair) February 15, 2024

In 2018, the British Parliament voted on whether Heathrow Airport should be allowed to build a third runway. 

Mr Wilson said as Transport Minister, Mr Ryan could similarly choose to override Fingal County Council by passing legislation through the Oireachtas. 

The alternative, he said, is airlines will simply invest in airports outside of Ireland. 

“I was down in Calabria in Sicily yesterday, delivering three new aircraft, opening new routes,” he said. 

“The aircraft are coming to Europe; they’re just not coming to Ireland and an Irish airline is exporting all these jobs elsewhere. 

“The Minister who is responsible is doing nothing.” 

Environmental impact

Minister Ryan has said it would be “wholly inappropriate” for him to intervene in, what he describes as, a decision for Fingal County Council. 

Despite this, a number of his Green Party colleagues have been vocal in their opposition to increasing the passenger cap amid concerns about its impact on Ireland’s emissions. 

It is not an argument that makes any sense, Mr Wilson believes, given the global nature of carbon emissions. 

“Here’s the reality, the aeroplanes that should have been here… are actually going to be in Calabria and Sicily this summer,” he said. 

A Ryanair jet is seen at Dublin Airport in September 2017. Picture by: Niall Carson/PA Archive/PA Images

He also claimed that Ryanair has made “significant progress” in reducing its carbon footprint in recent years.

“You can’t click your fingers on emissions, it requires something that the Greens don’t know anything about - which is having a plan and delivering it,” he said. 

“Ryanair has a plan; Ryanair has invested €40 billion in new aircraft that are going to substantially decrease our emissions per passenger.” 

Aviation contributes around 2.5% of global emissions but that figure could increase significantly in the years ahead; whereas only 1oo people travelled by plane in 1960, by 2019 the figure had jumped to 4.56 billion by 2019.

Alternatives to Dublin?

Other people have called for airlines to invest more in Ireland’s regional airports. 

This is, Mr Wilson said, the “most ridiculous argument I’ve ever heard”. 

“If you want to go somewhere, that’s where you fly to,” he said. 

“The reality is, the vast majority of people want to come to Dublin. 

“If people in Tipperary decide to go to an airport hotel and go out of Cork, great. 

“We’re delighted to take them from there but if someone is coming from Dresden into Dublin, they don’t buy a ticket to Shannon.” 

Fingal County Council’s decision on the passenger cap is due later this month.

The Department of Transport has been contacted for comment.

Main image: Minister for Transport Eamon Ryan on a bike. Image: PA Images / Alamy