Dublin Airport may be handling up to 32 extra flights a day next winter, regulators confirmed on Wednesday.
The news comes amid debate over proposed legislation that would allow Minister for Transport, Darragh O’Brien, axe a controversial 32 million annual limit on passengers at the State’s biggest airport.
Dublin may get take-off and landing slots for up to 32 extra flights a day from the end of October to the end of March 2027, air travel regulator, the Irish Aviation Authority (IAA), says in a draft proposal on slot allocation this winter.
The move would see the airport further increasing passenger traffic numbers, despite a long-standing planning condition limiting it to 32 million travellers a year.
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Dublin handled 36.4 million people in 2025 and is poised to increase this figure further in 2026, according to its operator, State company DAA.
The IAA proposal does not take the 32 million a year passenger cap into account with allocating slots, as the High Court has barred the authority from doing this pending the outcome of a legal challenge to the cap by airlines.
The authority sets terms for slot allocation at Dublin for winter and summer every year under EU regulations.
O’Brien recently published the Dublin Airport (Passenger Capacity) Bill 2026, allowing the Minister to scrap or amend the cap, subject to some environmental safeguards, if the Oireachtas passes it.
Airlines fear an EU court ruling due in coming months could force the regulator to take the passenger cap into account when it allocates slots for summer 2027, if the law has not been passed before the autumn.
That would result in a radical reduction of passenger numbers at the airport and the loss of flights in and out of the Republic, they warn.
Planners imposed the cap on Dublin’s two terminals in 2007 on the basis that the airport would need a third facility to allow it grow past 40 million passengers a year.
More efficient passenger processing means Dublin can now manage this level by extending its existing facilities, with no need for a third terminal.
DAA is seeking permission from Fingal County Council to increase the passenger limit to 40 million. However, airlines argue that planners are unlikely to decide on this before the EU ruling forces the IAA to implement the 32 million cap.
The IAA will seek submissions from airlines and other interested parties on the proposal for winter 2026/27 before issuing a final decision on slot allocations for those months.
