Ryanair boss Michael O’Leary: Do we want planes from here blocked from landing in the US?

Ryanair boss Michael O’Leary says a cap on night flights at Dublin Airport will "enrage the White House" and could even lead to Aer Lingus being blocked from landing in the US.

An Coimisiún Pleanála (ACP) ruled during the summer that Dublin Airport could use its north runway between 6 am and midnight – a change from the previous hours of 7 am to 11 pm.

The watchdog imposed an annual noise quota, together with an annual limit of 35,672 aircraft movements.

Dublin Airport. (Getty Images)

Speaking at Ryanair’s AGM on Thursday, chief executive Mr. O’Leary said he believes the July decision "might be more helpful, because it’s going to block transatlantic flights landing in Dublin Airport."

"I suspect that’s going to enrage the White House," he said. "Maybe when the White House stops Aer Lingus landing in the US, Micheál Martin and Simon Harris will finally get up off their arses and get these illegal caps abolished," he said.

He also accused the Government of doing "nothing" to address the airport passenger cap, even though the Coalition had "promised to scrap" the 36 million passenger limit in the Programme for Government.

"Nine months later, nothing’s happening. We need the Government to address the passenger cap. We elected a Government. They published a programme in January, promising to remove the cap as soon as possible, and nine months later, in September, no action.

"We have a do-nothing Government. We have a donothing minister," he said. He also defended the airline’s decision to legally challenge a limit on the number of night-time flights at Dublin Airport.

Ryanair launched a new legal challenge earlier this week against a night-time passenger cap it says will "strangle transatlantic traffic." ACP said the cap would allow for airport growth while providing an essential safeguard against excessive nighttime activity. But Ryanair has applied for a High Court judicial review to challenge what it said is an "illegal" cap.

The airline has said the restrictions amounted to "an illegal second movements cap." Ryanair said the ACP ruling will "delay much-needed investment and growth at Dublin Airport’ and ‘will block early morning pre-7 am arrivals, which are vital for transatlantic landings between 5 am and 7 am."

In its decision, the planning watchdog extended the operating hours of the new north runway to between 6 am and midnight. Previously, there had been a ban on landing or taking off from that runway between 11 pm and 7 am.

As a result, the number of flights permitted at the airport on its two runways was also increased from an average of 65 per night to 95 between 11 pm and 7 am, with a limit of 35,672 flights a year. Michael O’Leary said Ryanair had no choice but to go to court to get an injunction.

"This country needs a bit of leadership. Micheál Martin and Simon Harris won’t provide it. So, sadly we have to go to the courts to get these stupid caps, illegal caps, removed." The Ryanair boss said "investments are already being lost" due to the caps.

He claimed Dublin Airport traffic this year would be about a million higher if it had not had to deal with the caps last winter. "We’ve lost about a million passengers at Dublin this year. That’s about 750 jobs.

"And all the Government’s own statistics show that tourism numbers in this country are falling, when they should be rising.

"We want to grow in this country, but we can’t, because we have illegal caps on a two-runway airport at Dublin Airport, and a do-nothing Government that won’t get up off its ae and pass the legislation, despite the fact they have a 20-seat majority, to scrap these caps," he said.

*This article was originally published on Extra.ie.