Mr. Kenny Jacobs:

I wish the members of the committee a good afternoon and thank them for the invitation to discuss national aviation policy. We look forward to engaging with them on that. We will also give members an update on security and services at Dublin Airport. This is my first committee outing as DAA CEO, having joined the business last Monday. I am excited to have joined what is a great business in Irish aviation with four important business units: Dublin Airport; Cork Airport; Aer Rianta International; and DAA International.

The DAA plays a pivotal role in Irish aviation. Both Dublin and Cork Airports provide the connectivity that is essential to the success of our island’s economic growth, in-bound tourism and social cohesion, while allowing us to get away for holidays and to see family and friends. As has been well documented, at the end of May last year there were unacceptable security queues that resulted in flight cancellations at Dublin Airport. The experience at Dublin Airport last summer was not what we wanted, especially on security queues and the overall standards at the airport. Since then, our dedicated team has changed the way we do things to improve security and standards for our passengers and airline customers and to continue to support and develop our people. We have more to do, which we will tell the committee about today.

As the new CEO, my number one priority is to continue to deliver better airports for all our passengers. At Dublin Airport, this means a strong focus on operational performance, security, standards, and resilience to make sure the travelling public get the service they expect and deserve. The DAA has many stakeholders and the most important of these are the passengers who use our airports. As the gateway to Ireland, Dublin Airport must deliver for both our passengers and airline customers and be appropriately resourced so it has operational resilience, through seasons and through various economic cycles.

This past Christmas, just under 1.5 million passengers travelled through the airport and, of those departing, 93% went through security in 20 minutes or less, while 99% of passengers went through security in 30 minutes or less. The 30-minute mark is a key regulatory standard and 20 minutes is our internal target at the DAA. That is a strong basis on which to build and I would personally like to commend all of our staff at Dublin Airport who really put their shoulder to the wheel to deliver for our passengers during this busy peak period. I am, however, aware that to build on this success and continue to improve the quality over the course of this year and beyond, two key things need to happen.

First, there is an industry-wide resourcing issue. At times that resulted in queues at security and sub-optimal airport standards. There were issues around baggage handling and aircraft de-icing and opening times for airline check-in also need to be addressed by airlines and ground-handlers. We will continue to work with our airlines and handlers to ensure all of us give passengers a better experience in this regard. Second, there needs to be a sustainable pricing and regulatory environment in place to support the provision of consistent service quality levels at Dublin Airport. In this respect, the recent pricing decision by the Commission for Aviation Regulator, CAR, has a direct bearing on the number of staff that Dublin Airport can hire in security, cleaning and other key areas. In its decision, the regulator has disallowed the recruitment of up to 240 of the security staff needed at Dublin Airport by 2026, which, in the context of learnings post-Covid, is both unwise and inexplicable.

It is clear to us that passengers, airlines, Government and this committee wish to see greater operational resilience at Dublin Airport, and to restore efficiency and passenger experience to pre-Covid levels. However, there is a clear misalignment between the service quality standards which policymakers and other stakeholders require from Dublin Airport and the revenues allowed by the regulatory system to fund them going forward. We are not against independent regulation and we want to have a solid relationship with the regulator but the modelling done to arrive at the price cap needs to allow for greater resilience and service levels.

Dublin Airport already has the lowest charges of 18 similar-sized airports across Europe. At a time of record cost inflation, when air fares last summer went up by 40% across Europe and are expected to increase by 15% to 20% this coming summer, it makes no sense that airport charges remain substantially less - 30% lower - than 2019 levels. The reality is that changes in passenger charges have virtually no impact on the price that an airline charges for a flight so passengers should not expect their air fares to go up. Now is the time to review aviation policy and to reflect on the role of all players operating within the aviation ecosystem in Ireland, including the regulator. We need to reset the system of regulation on charges, post the Covid crisis, post the learnings from last summer and before we have the next economic, health or other crisis. We all want a Dublin Airport that is resilient and can grow and give passengers a better service. If this is what we want then it must be reflected in national aviation policy and the regulated price simply must go up.

Beyond regulation I would like to touch on a few other key areas of aviation policy. As an island nation on the periphery of Europe, Ireland’s aviation sector must be enabled to continue to support economic growth and development. An overriding objective of the aviation policy should therefore be to expand existing connectivity and promote new air connections. This is particularly important as we emerge from the Covid crisis and continue to face a relatively unstable international geopolitical and economic landscape. Dublin Airport delivers unrivalled global connectivity for Ireland. Ensuring Ireland’s largest gateway can continue its development as a key European secondary hub is critical to the economic development of every region in the country. Simply put, when Dublin Airport is winning then Ireland is winning. A secondary hub involves facilitating through-traffic and based aircraft and connecting Ireland to a range of destinations that might otherwise be commercially or geographically challenging.

Momentum in this area will provide a much-needed boost to our tourism, foreign direct investment, FDI, and aviation sector. A lack of momentum will see us lose connectivity, jobs and opportunities to competing airports, particularly across the UK and also in Europe. To facilitate the delivery of the connectivity benefits that a hub can provide, the DAA plans to invest €1.9 billion in facilities and infrastructure over the coming years. It is therefore hugely important that Dublin Airport is supported by national policies which are progressive and which encourage the development of airport infrastructure and growth in passengers and movements. This is particularly important in areas such as planning and regulation.

Cork Airport had a strong performance in 2022, with just over 2.2 million passengers using the airport and it continues to give passengers an excellent service. I was in Cork Airport last week and I have no doubt it is one of the best regional airports I have seen across Europe. It is growing and giving the south of Ireland a great choice of destinations, which has increased for this coming summer.

I want to see Cork continue to grow and I know there are ambitions to reach 3 million passengers over the coming years. We have plans in place to continue to invest in Cork Airport’s infrastructure to support its growth, including the delivery of C3 cabin baggage screening.

Finally on Cork, I am aware that a review of the regional airports’ programme is under way. This programme has provided valuable support to the airport to rebuild traffic volumes following the pandemic. It is critical that Cork Airport continues to be part of this programme to support the development of the airport into the future.

My final point, which is key to the future of the aviation sector and something I am personally committed to, is sustainability. Since 2010, Dublin Airport has reduced its carbon emissions by 26% while welcoming an additional 14 million passengers and expanding its infrastructure. We have made a commitment to achieve net-zero carbon emissions across our operations by 2050. While this is challenging, we fully intend to transition our business to achieve this goal. This will be underpinned by the delivery of energy efficiency measures, fleet changes to zero and low-emission vehicles and the integration of on-site renewables such as solar PV and electrification to reduce our campus energy requirements.

Looking beyond our own direct operations, airports act as ground transport hubs and play a key part in the national shift to public transport. This needs continued focus and support. In particular, we fully support the prioritisation of key public transport projects to Dublin Airport. This includes both Metro North and BusConnects. Increasing public transport options for passengers will ultimately reduce private car dependency and support both DAA’s and the Government’s drive towards net-zero.

We also actively engage with the wider aviation sector on the delivery of other key sustainability initiatives, such as the use of sustainable aviation fuel, SAF. The airport infrastructure to deliver it already exists; the bigger issue will be securing the supply of SAF in Ireland. Ireland should be a leader on SAF in aviation and we fully support airlines increasing their usage of SAF and investing in newer aircraft that have lower CO2 per passenger kilometre.

Given the rapid advancements in both transport and aircraft technology, we expect that our airports will have to provide for multiple different types of fuelling and powering options at our campuses within the next decade, including electric powering and the use of green hydrogen. It is important that aviation policy reflects the future demands of airlines and passengers in terms of fuelling and the impact that this will have on airport infrastructure and planning.

Finally, we support a Single European Sky. This would immediately reduce emissions by 10% to 12% by preventing longer than necessary flight lengths caused by inefficient air traffic control across continental Europe.

In summary, my objectives for DAA are as follows: to continue to improve the resilience at Dublin Airport - that means security and operating standards; to rebuild pride among our people, and we have outstanding people in all parts of the business; and to work with our airline customers to deliver growth so that Ireland has the connectivity it needs and achieves this in a way that is sustainable. Ireland is probably the most respected country in aviation. We have a great history and are fantastic when it comes to airlines, airports and aircraft leasing. Ireland is very respected as a leader and we should all be very proud of that. DAA is an important part of this and will continue to be a good part of that for the years ahead. I thank members for their time and am happy to answer any questions they may have.