Ryanair will run TV ads in the US highlighting American airlines’ complaint about Dublin Airport’s passenger limit in the run up to St Patrick’s Day if the Government fails to lift it, says its chief executive, Michael O’Leary.
Industry group, Airlines for America (A4A), has asked Washington’s department of transportation to curtail Irish and European carriers’ rights to fly to the US if the Government here does not lift a 32 million a-year cap on passengers at Dublin Airport by February 1st.
Mr O’Leary warned on Monday that Ryanair would run ads on the pro-president Donald Trump broadcaster, Fox News, highlighting US airlines’ anger at the passenger cap if the limit remains in place.
“We are going to run ads on Fox News in the first week of March,” he said.
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He dubbed the A4A complaint “seismic” and argued that the US authorities could bar Aer Lingus from flying to airports there if the Government here does not act.
Aer Lingus is the only Irish airline with scheduled US flights. The airline has consistently opposed the passenger cap and is taking part in legal action against the limit with Ryanair and A4A.
The US organisation believes the passenger limit breaches transatlantic air travel treaties and discriminates against North American airlines flying to Dublin.
Mr O’Leary said that the Government pledged to lift the cap ahead of taking office last January. “They have done nothing about it in 13 months,” he declared.
The Irish Department of Transport did not comment.
Ryanair “cautiously” predicts that profit in its current financial year, which ends on March 31st, will fall “between €2.13 billion and €2.23 billion” before any exceptional charges.
Profit fell 80 per cent to €30 million in the three-months to the end of December, after calculating for a €256 million fine by Italy’s competition regulator, which the Irish group believes will be overturned on appeal.
Excluding that once-off charge, the airline earned profit after tax of €115 million, 22 per cent less than during the comparable quarter in 2024.
Revenue increased 8.5 per cent to €3.21 billion during the quarter from €2.96 billion in the same period in 2024. Passenger numbers rose 6 per cent to 47.5 million.
Ryanair included one third of the total Italian fine as an exceptional charge for the three-month period.
Mr O’Leary said an appeal could take one to two years, adding that the company and its Italian legal advisers were confident this would succeed.
The fine stems from Ryanair’s efforts to prevent online travel agents selling its flights without authorisation.
The company says the regulator acted contrary to an Italian court ruling on the same issue issued in 2024.
A complaint from Edreams, with 5 per cent of the market, resulted in the penalty, according to Mr O’Leary. Ryanair has deals with most other online agents.
US manufacturer Boeing has delivered almost all the 737-8200 aircraft that Ryanair has ordered from it. The carrier has 206 of those aircraft in its 643-strong fleet and will receive the last four due in weeks.
The weekend’s surge in oil prices did not worry the airline, Mr O’Leary said. Ryanair will save €500 million in 2026 through fuel hedging, says its chief executive.
“There is a lot of short-term noise, but in the medium term oil prices are coming down,” he predicted.
