Ryanair has said it is reducing its winter schedule out of Dublin Airport because of increasing passenger charges, the airport's capital spending decisions and its failure to deliver meaningful environmental incentive scheme.
The airline said it has cancelled 17 routes for the season and will also be moving its Boeing "Gamechanger" fleet of 19 aircraft to other airports across the EU.
This is because these airports offers incentives to carriers that grow passenger numbers using lower CO2 emitting and quieter aircraft, it said.
In response, Dublin Airport operator, daa, said its surprised and disappointed by the decision, but rejected what it called false claims by the airline.
It said airport charges in Dublin will increase by 6% next year, not 45% and these are set by the aviation regulator.
"Ryanair's claim of a 45% increase in charges in 2024 is false," daa CEO Kenny Jacobs said.
"As Ryanair knows well, the aeronautical charges at Dublin Airport are regulated by the IAA who set the maximum level of charges at Dublin Airport.
"There is nothing approaching a 45% proposed in pricing at Dublin Airport which is patently false for anyone who has studied the regulators' determination last December."
It also claims it does offer incentives to airlines including Ryanair, and that it does have plans for new and better infrastructure in Dublin including at Terminal 1 and 2.
Ryanair has been particularly critical of a plan by Dublin Airport to build a tunnel under part of the airfield at a cost of €250m, a piece of infrastructure that the airline has described as "superfluous".
The airline has also criticised what it claims are a lack of plans to expand Terminal 1 and 2 to accommodate growing passenger traffic.
"It is regrettable that Ryanair is announcing 17 route cuts and the removal of 19 "Gamechanger" enviro-friendly aircraft this Winter at Dublin because there are no incentives at Dublin to grow traffic or reward investment in aircraft with lower CO2 and noise emissions," said Ryanair CEO Eddie Wilson.
"Unlike most other EU airports, the daa is unfortunately focused on increasing passenger charges by 45% and wasting €250m on a tunnel the same size as the Dublin Port tunnel that is not needed," Mr Wilson said.
However, daa said the new tunnel is needed for safety reasons and it has reviewed all options for this, including solutions in other European airports.
"Ryanair's claim that an underpass is not needed at Dublin Airport is, once again, false," Mr Jacobs said.
"We have reviewed all options, including solutions in place at other European airports, and both the aviation regulator and daa agree the underpass solution is the optimum one from a safety perspective and we never compromise on safety."
The airport needs to provide more incentives to reward those airlines who invest in lower emission aircraft, Mr Wilson said.
"daa needs to build low-cost infrastructure to support passenger growth and connectivity but has failed to implement a growth incentive scheme or indeed lower charges that reward those airlines who invest in lower emission aircraft," he added.
However, daa said the airport's growth has recovered to pre-pandemic levels and incentivisation of new growth is not needed, daa CEO Kenny Jacobs added.
"Ryanair's claim that Dublin Airport offers no incentives to airlines is also false.
"A traffic recovery scheme is in place at Dublin Airport that has worked incredibly well and has facilitated the speedy 100% bounce back in activity at Dublin Airport post-Covid.
"As the biggest beneficiary of the TRSS scheme, we can understand why Ryanair would like to see it remain in place beyond next March, but we are happy that Dublin Airport’s growth has recovered to pre-pandemic levels and we do not need to incentivise new growth given Dublin Airport has a planning capacity limit of 32 million passengers per annum."
daa urges Ryanair not to depend on 'back of a scratch card' mathematics
daa urged Ryanair to "redo their sums" and join the airport on its "journey to a carbon free aviation eco-system".
"Rather than depending on back of a scratch card mathematics, I would urge those making such false statements, to redo their sums and more importantly study the range of sustainability incentives proposed at Dublin Airport and join us on the journey to a carbon free aviation eco-system over the coming years," Mr Jacobs said.
Among the routes that are to be cut are Palermo in Italy, Nuremeberg in Germany and Genoa in Italy, and there will also be a reduction in frequency on some regional routes to the UK, Ryanair said.
Luton Airport in the UK, as well as airports in Spain and Italy will see the "Gamechanger" aircraft moved to them.
Ryanair also said the daa is reversing positive progress achieved under the Government's Traffic Recovery Support Scheme which led to the airline boosting traffic post-pandemic by 117%.
Eddie Wilson said he had written to the Minister for Transport Eamon Ryan three times to warn that this would happen.
Mr Wilson said the cut to routes and capacity in Dublin could lead to higher fares on some routes, which he described as "regrettable".
He said the movement of the "Gamechanger" aircraft to other airports will lead to Ryanair using slightly more CO2 and noise emitting aircraft in Dublin instead.
However, he said the airline's employment levels in Dublin will not be adversely impacted by the decision to cut routes.
He added that a decision about what happens to Ryanair routes next summer would be made nearer the time.
The Ryanair boss denied that the airline would in the normal course of events be cutting routes at this time of the year anyway, as part of a rejigging of its schedule for winter, saying the traffic is going elsewhere.
"Dublin Airport is going to have to come to its senses," he said.
"There is less airline seat capacity in Europe and they need to be attracting it, not driving it away," he stated.
