Employment, the Europa League final and the Six Nations will be adversely affected if the cap on passenger numbers at Dublin Airport is not lifted, an Oireachtas committee has heard.
Kenny Jacobs, the CEO of the Dublin Airport Authority (daa), said that the cap is "leading to tough conversations with the airlines" and "will create some difficulty" in 2024.
He warned that it could cost the airport 16,000 new jobs.
"We would like the cap to be lifted," he said, but emphasised that "until then, we will be fully compliant" with the limit of 32 million passengers a year.
He was appearing before the Joint Committee on Transport and Communications, which has already heard airlines' objections to the cap.
"We will submit our infrastructure application to Fingal (County Council) on 15 December," he said, noting that "the cap is a planning condition linked to surface access" and is included in that application which he hopes will be granted "as quickly as possible".
Next year, the cap will impact general aviation, business flights, sports and special events, he warned.
"Things like the Europa League final, things like the Six Nations and charter jets looking to come to Dublin Airport. We may be saying that you need to go to Shannon, you need to go to Cork, you need to go to Belfast," he said.
The cap at Amsterdam's Schipol Airport was removed last week following a challenge by the European Commission, Mr Jacobs noted.
It had simply pushed hub traffic to Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris, he told the committee. "So caps don't stop flying. They just move the flights some place else."
He warned that maintaining the cap at Dublin Airport could push airlines to move to Manchester or Edinburgh.
"An airport like Edinburgh is already talking to the airlines, saying, 'Look, if Dublin's capped we'll give you a special incentive to come and to do trans-Atlantic stuff at Edinburgh," Mr Jacobs said.
"That's not good for jobs," he cautioned.
"I think aviation is not the enemy. I think carbon is the enemy. And aviation needs to make breakthroughs and is working hard to make breakthroughs on how we reduce carbon," he said.
Airlines and airports have their responsibilities and are "working closely".
"We have grown as an airport but we are using less energy," he said, noting the daa's commitment to Net Zero by 2050.
