What is the Dublin Airport passenger cap and where does it come from?
The 32-million-passenger cap is a planning condition, not legislation. It was set as Condition 3 of An Bord Pleanala's August 2007 decision on the Terminal 2 appeal (PL06F.220670): 'The combined capacity of Terminal 2 as permitted together with Terminal 1 shall not exceed 32 million passengers per annum unless otherwise authorised by a further grant of planning permission.' The same cap appears in Fingal's own Terminal 2 decision (F06A/1248, Condition 28) and in the Terminal 1 extension permission (PL06F.223469, Condition 2). daa's application to raise it to 40 million (Fingal ref F23A/0781, lodged December 2023) remains undecided; Dublin Airport handled 36.4 million passengers in 2025.
Every filing on the record
The Terminal 2 permission. Condition 28 is the origin of the 32 million passenger cap at local-authority level.
The Terminal 2 appeal decision whose Condition 3, headed 'Capacity', fixes the combined T1+T2 limit at 32 million passengers per annum 'unless otherwise authorised by a further grant of planning permission'. The stated reason cites the Dublin Airport Local Area Plan and transport capacity constraints at the eastern campus.
The Terminal 1 extension permission; Condition 2 repeats the combined 32 million cap.
The North Runway permission (3,110 m). Condition 3(d) barred use of the new runway between 23:00 and 07:00; Condition 5 capped average night movements across the airport at 65 per night over a 92-day modelling period - the conditions behind the later night-flights case.
The section 34C 'relevant action' on night-time use of the runway system: an annual night-movement cap of 35,672 (23:00-07:00) plus a noise quota; no night operations on the North Runway, whose operating day was extended to 06:00-24:00. Judicial review challenges by two airlines and a residents' group were reported in September 2025, and the European Commission found in February 2026 that the balanced-approach procedure had not been fully complied with (RTE).
daa's 'Infrastructure Application': roughly EUR 2.4bn of works and a rise in the cap from 32 to 40 million passengers. An 85-item further-information request issued in February 2024; daa responded in November 2024; the application awaits the airport noise regulator's (ANCA) assessment. A separate interim application to raise the cap to 36 million, lodged in December 2024, was withdrawn in December 2025.
The cap has jumped from the planning register into three other arenas. In the courts: the High Court referred questions to the EU Court of Justice in December 2024 in airline proceedings over how the slot-coordination rules interact with the cap; the Advocate General's opinion of 12 February 2026 said a planning cap 'may be taken into account' in setting slot parameters, and the CJEU's judgment is awaited (RTE; Irish Times).
In the Oireachtas: the General Scheme of the Dublin Airport (Passenger Capacity) Bill was published on 12 February 2026 - it would empower the Minister to amend or revoke the cap conditions and move airport planning decisions from Fingal to An Coimisiun Pleanala.
And in the numbers: Dublin Airport handled 36.4 million passengers in 2025 against the 32 million condition - the gap between the register and the runway is the whole story. The full consent chain above is why 'scrap the cap' is, in strict terms, a planning application: the condition binds 'unless otherwise authorised by a further grant of planning permission'.
What to watch next
- ANCA's draft noise decision - the gate on F23A/0781, the 40-million application.
- The CJEU judgment on the slots referral, following the February 2026 Advocate General's opinion.
- Passage of the Dublin Airport (Passenger Capacity) Bill 2026, which would relocate the decision itself.
- The judicial reviews of the night-flights decision ABP-314485-22.
Core documents
The primary sources behind this tracker - reports, orders and official records, linked directly for researchers.
- Terminal 2 appeal order with the cap condition, PL06F.220670 (PDF)
- North Runway order with the night conditions, PL06F.217429 (PDF)
- daa's compiled planning conditions (dublinairport.com, PDF)
- Oireachtas Library briefing: Dublin Airport (Passenger Capacity) Bill 2026 (PDF)
- Night-flights case ABP-314485-22 (An Coimisiun Pleanala)
- ACP statement on the night-flights decision
- Fingal consultation notice on F23A/0781
Method: compiled from the public planning register as ingested by PlanningLeads; updated 16 July 2026. Registers move as cases progress - always check the live record before relying on a status. Organisation campuses only; no personal data is reported.