Ryanair chief executive Michael O’Leary has warned that airfares at Dublin Airport could touch €1,000 this Christmas if the passenger cap at the facility is not lifted.
The aviation regulator has limited the number of passengers that can use the facilities at Dublin Airport each year to 32 million.
During an interview with Newstalk, O’Leary said the country could miss out on thousands of tourism jobs because of the “insane” cap.
“Tourism accounts for about 10 per cent or 12 per cent of Ireland’s GDP,” he remarked. “We’re opening new hotels, we’re developing new restaurants, the Wild Atlantic Way and all of these tourism facilities need continuing growth in visitor numbers and that can only be done in Ireland through the continuation of low-cost air access,” O’Leary continued. “But the airfares in and out of Dublin this Christmas will be €1,000 return. They’ll be €500 each way.”
He also slammed Transport Minister Eamon Ryan. “If we had a Minister for Transport who was modestly interested in aviation or even modestly interested in economic growth and development, which his own aviation policy is at the heart of, he would fix this.”