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On Wednesday the NBAA welcomed the Irish Aviation Authority's decision to ensure continued access to the Dublin Airport for General Aviation, including business aircraft operations.
In late 2023 the Dublin Airport Authority proposed a ban on nonscheduled "ad hoc" flights to try and maintain the total annual passenger counts at the airport under the current limit of 32 million, despite ongoing discussions to raise the airport capacity to 40 million passengers. Enacting a cap like this would severely hinder BizAv access to Ireland, which supports hundreds of U.S. businesses, and would adversely impact the industry's more than 2,000 jobs and €1 billion contribution to the nation's economy.
The IAA draft decision was issued on April 11 for the winter 2024/2025 travel season. This decision determined that the current cap of 32 million annually would only apply to the traffic using the facility's two commercial airline passenger terminals to preserve GA and BizAv access to DUB through at least March 29, 2025. Comment submitted by the NBAA on April 22 in support of the IAA draft said the agency's "pragmatic" approach in recognizing the potentially harmful economic recourse if such a ban on GA operations was enacted.
"This [decision] allows general aviation operations, including business aircraft operations, to continue providing important economic benefits to Dublin and the surrounding region," the NBAA said in its comments.
The IAA decision follows the NBAA's appeals made to the U.S. ambassador to Ireland and the Irish ambassador to the U.S. regarding the threatened ban. The NBAA has also worked closely with the Irish Business and General Aviation Association and the European Business Aviation Association to ensure that officials understood the potential ramifications to the business community and tourism industry in Ireland if the ban is imposed.
The recent draft decision will exempt GA traffic movements from the capacity limits but the IAA said the subsequent applicability will remain under for future seasons.