daa tells Oireachtas Transport Committee it owes €815m

The CEO of airport operator daa has told the Oireachtas Transport Committee that it owes €815 million after incurring debts of €1 million a day during the Covid-19 pandemic.

However, Kenny Jacobs said that business is good and the daa hit €1 billion in revenue this year.

He said there has been a huge improvement in customer satisfaction, with 95% satisfaction in Cork and 85% in Dublin – up significantly recently.

Mr Jacobs said they are hoping to expand Dublin Airport to 40 million passengers, having applied to extend the passenger cap which currently stands at 32 million annually.

He said the 32 million passenger cap is a huge concern, and that it is too early to say if they will breach it.

“Ironically, the potential Aer Lingus strikes will help with that compliance, because it could take out a chunk of passengers in the summer depending on what shapes the strikes take,” Mr Jacobs said.

Cork Airport expects to reach 3 million passenger mark

Managing Director of Cork Airport, Niall McCarthy told the committee that they fly 28 times a week to Heathrow and 14 times a week to Amsterdam.

This year they expect to grow by 17%, reaching the three million passenger mark.

Of the 40,000 flights a year, they are roughly split 50/50 between commercial and non-commercial.

“We are quite seasonal, so our July and August traffic is about twice what it is in January/February,” Mr McCarthy said.

95% of passengers get through security in Cork Airport in less than 15 minutes.

‘A lot of planning’ for summer

Managing Director of Dublin Airport, Gary McLean, told the committee that a lot of planning goes into the summer period.

He said there are 2,600 flights departing from Dublin Airport each week and the airport is the fifth best connected hub in Europe.

In terms of the new scanners, more people will travel through them this summer than not.

He also said that cleanliness had improved recently in Dublin Airport.

Mr McLean said they were trying to increase public transport to the airport, with over 1,000 bus movements per day over the summer.

On busy carparks, he said they were focusing on trying to ensure people had a good experience “but we are recommending they book early, they are selling out at peak times we’re seeing that this coming weekend,” he added.

There were 120,000 people in Dublin Airport last Sunday, Mr Jacobs said, which would translate to 40 million passengers a year, if it were replicated all of the time.

He said they remain focused on being net zero by 2050.

“We need to build to get to net zero because Terminal 1 is very old,” he added.

He said they were listening to locals living beside the airport. He said they have had 100 community visits in the past year.

“I think we are actively listening in the community, not just in Fingal,” Mr Jacobs said.

‘Noise is serious’

“Noise is serious and we want to do everything we can to take it away.”

Mr Jacobs said that flight paths can evolve “if there’s a better flight path out there that removes noise from the system…we’re looking at that.”

He said the underpass was necessary to keep the airport safe at 45 million capacity.

He said 38 homes were eligible for buy out.

On the passenger cap, Mr Kenny said; “I’m worried about the passenger cap, we have done everything that we can to comply and it’s still halfway through the year.”

“I’m concerned we’ll be forced into a breach because not enough has been done.”

He said the number of passengers depended on the slot process and allocation which is governed by the IAA.

He said he is advised that airlines might not get slots in 2025 that they have been granted for this year.

He said the Aer Lingus strike, if it happens would be terrible for passengers, but might help with the cap.

Responding to claims by Ryanair that passenger airport charges were going up by over 40%, Mr Jacobs said “there’s a bigger chance of us operating an airport on the moon than airport charges going up by 45%”.

“Dublin Airport is still the lowest charging capital city in Europe, we want a modest increase.”

Flight paths

Sinn Féin TD Darren O’Rourke asked if a noise assessment had been done in relation to the north runway and whether the same flight paths as applied for were running.

Mr Jacobs said planning does not govern flight paths. He said The Aircraft Noise Competent Authority (ANCA) are responsible for noise, but they were looking at flight paths and whether they could be moved.

He said Ashbourne generally hits 40 dB [during flights] while east Meath reaches levels of 30 – 40 decibels.

Deputy O’Rourke said some residents took issue with the way the noise was measured by daa and indeed ANCA.

Mr Jacobs said he was happy that the fight paths were compliant with what was agreed in 2016.

Mr McLean said they needed a process to allow a voice to everyone, so that they don’t move the problem from one place to another, for example by moving flight paths.

Fianna Fáil TD Cathal Crowe asked the head of the daa if they had submitted their application to increase the passenger cap to get ahead of the National Aviation Policy.

Mr Jacobs disagreed with this, saying he wish he had gotten the application in sooner (than Dec ‘2023).

Mr Jacobs said that other UK airports were already marketing themselves an alternative to Dublin, noting it was close to reaching the passenger cap.

He said they were actively turning away business to remain compliant with the current passenger cap.

Deputy Crowe asked if people would get home for Christmas – following claims by Ryanair of exorbitant Christmas flight prices.

Mr Jacobs said “everyone will get home for Christmas”.

He said Ryanair had already been told that what slots they had last year, they will keep this year.

“The airlines won’t get everything new that they want, but everything they had, they’ll keep,” Mr Jacobs said.