DAA returned to profit last year as pandemic ebbs

State airports company DAA returned to profit in 2023 with a €98 million surplus after tax as it emerged from almost two years of Government Covid curbs.

The company responsible for Cork and Dublin airports expects passenger numbers this year to equal those of 2019, however chief executive Kenny Jacobs dismissed reports of likely chaos at the capital’s gateway this summer.

Dublin and Cork airports handled a total of 30.3 million passengers last year, 85 per cent of their pre-pandemic total, DAA said.

More than 28.1 million people passed through Dublin, 85 per cent of 2019 levels, while Cork, the State’s second biggest airport, hosted 2.24 million passengers, 86 per cent of pre-Covid numbers.

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Mr Jacobs believes that numbers this year will equal the records hit in 2019, the year before the pandemic prompted State restrictions, when Dublin handled 32.9 million passengers. “We should be just about bang on,” he said on Thursday.

He also pledged that this summer would not see a repeat of the chaos that marred travel for many last year. “It certainly should not be that,” Mr Jacobs said. “It’s going to be very very busy, and there will be days when it’s going to be very challenging, but it should not be a repeat of last year.”

Recent reports predicted problems at the airport this summer. Most in the industry believe that air traffic control problems, largely due to strikes in France and shortages in other countries, will disrupt travel this year.

However, few say that the problems in this State or across the rest of Europe will be repeated in summer 2023.

About 1,400 people missed flights out of Dublin on May 29th last year when a shortage of security staff led to long queues at the airport. DAA subsequently hired more frontline staff but waiting times at security remained long until late summer. The airport’s facilities also came under fire.

Mr Jacobs conceded that there were shortcomings in standards and service during the first half of 2022, but argued that Dublin Airport recovered well and has enjoyed nine months of stability.

DAA has net debt of €840 million and total liabilities of €1.6 billion after borrowing cash to get through the pandemic.

“We are going to have to work to reduce that balance,” Mr Jacobs said. He said any spending cuts would not affect immediate plans to boost services or longer-term aims to expand Dublin Airport’s capacity.

The company is working on a plan to improve services across Dublin Airport, including extra seating, new food and drink outlets, better wifi and other measures.

DAA’s airports had a strong Easter. About 100,000 a day travelled through Dublin, 10,000 through Cork and 125,000 through the terminal it manages in Jeddah Airport, Saudi Arabia, a contract it won last year.

The company expects to have passed all regulatory requirements to allow fire service staff at Dublin Airport to use anti-drone technology in two to three weeks. Drone attacks disrupted flights and passengers there during a period in February and March.

Catherine Gubbins, DAA group chief financial officer, welcomed the return to profitability but cautioned that the company would not pay a dividend to the State in 2023, or possibly in coming years.

She said this was a consequence of Covid-19′s impact, the Commission for Aviation Regulation’s recent ruling on Dublin Airport charges, and “the scale of capital expenditure that will be required to address the critical capacity challenges that Dublin Airport faces”.

Chairman Basil Geoghegan noted that a key highlight for the group was the opening of Dublin’s new north runway “on time and on budget”.