New law will remove 32 million annual passenger cap at Dublin Airport

The Irish president has signed off on a new law to remove a limit to the number of people who can fly from Dublin Airport each year.

Known as the Dublin Airport (Passenger Capacity) Act 2026, the legislation will grant the minister for transport powers to lift the 32 million annual passenger restriction.

The passenger cap, introduced in 2007, has been a subject of significant opposition from the aviation sector, and in 2024 was suspended by a High Court ruling.

Transport Minister Darragh O’Brien said the new legislation “recognises the strategic importance of Dublin Airport as our primary international gateway”.

The law was passed in the Dáil Éireann earlier this week and signed off by President Catherine Connolly on Thursday.

The 32 million passenger-per-year cap is currently suspended pending a European Court ruling.

Irish national broadcaster RTÉ has reported the airport overshot the limit by four million passengers last year.

In 2024 it was reported that Leinster Rugby would have had to fly to some away games from Belfast due to the passenger cap at Dublin Airport.

Last year Dublin Airport was granted planning permission to increase the number of night-time flights it could operate.

Transport Minister Darragh O’Brien has said he wants all environmental assessments completed within the “strict timelines set out in the act”, so he can “amend or revoke the passenger cap as soon as possible”.

One of the reasons the cap was introduced by planners back in 2007 was to mitigate road congestion in the area around the airport.

Some local residents still support the cap, as do environmentalists groups who see it as a way of restraining a high-emission sector.

Supporters of the new law, such as Irish, European and American airlines, warn that keeping the cap could be economically detrimental for Ireland.