It would ensure that Ireland was, according to a contemporary description in this newspaper, “one end of a great chain of air services”. In 2024, 41 million passengers used Irish airports, while last year, 36.43 million passengers travelled through Dublin Airport, the airport’s busiest ever year. In February, the Cabinet approved draft legislation to lift the airport’s passenger cap, after extensive lobbying about constrained connectivity. It is likely many travel plans will be disrupted, while the cost of others will rise. A difficult summer looms, but the issues raised by the oil crisis should prompt a more searching look at our dependencies, both commercial and personal.

Source: The Irish Times April 05, 2026 23:55 UTC