The NBAA has welcomed a draft decision by the Irish Aviation Authority (IAA) to ensure continued access to Dublin airport for business aircraft operations.

In late 2023, the Dublin Airport Authority (DAA) proposed to ban non-scheduled, ad hoc flights to maintain total annual passenger counts at the airport under the current limit of 32 million, even as discussions remain ongoing to raise airport capacity to 40 million passengers. Such a cap would have severely hampered business aviation access to the island nation, which supports hundreds of US businesses located there, and detrimentally impacted the industry's 2,000 plus jobs and one billion euro contribution to the country's economy.

Issued on 11 April, the IAA draft decision for the winter 2024/2025 travel season determined that the airport's current cap at 32 million passengers annually would only apply to traffic utilising the facility's two commercial airline passenger terminals, preserving GA and business aviation access to the airport through to at least 29 March, 2025.

In comments submitted in support of the IAA draft, NBAA notes the agency's 'pragmatic' approach in recognising the potential economic harm such a ban on GA operations would entail.

"This [decision] allows general aviation operations, including business aircraft operations, to continue providing important economic benefits to Dublin and the surrounding region," says the NBAA.

The IAA's draft decision follows appeals by NBAA to the US ambassador to Ireland and the Irish ambassador to the US regarding the threatened action. The association also worked with the Irish Business and General Aviation Association and EBAA to ensure officials understood the potential ramifications to Ireland's business community and tourism industry should such a ban be imposed.

While the draft decision would exempt GA traffic movements from the capacity limit for the time being, the IAA notes that subsequent applicability 'will be kept under review for future seasons', despite what the agency conceded is the industry's minimal impact on operations at Dublin airport.

"In any event, the question is of limited materiality in the context of volume of GA passengers, of which there were less than 18,000 in 2023," the IAA notes.