LAST UPDATE | 2 May

DUBLIN AIRPORT IS now seeking to become the summer operators of the defunct QuickPark commercial car park after their bid to buy the facility was blocked by the competitions watchdog last month.

Speaking at an event in Dublin yesterday, CEO of the airport’s operator Kenny Jacobs said DAA will be contacting the owners of the 6,000-space car park to see how to make the arrangement at the facility in Santry, Dublin.

The Competitions and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC) told The Journal that while it has no concerns over the facility being operated by a third-party, “it is important that the car park is operated by a company other than daa on a lasting basis”.

Jacobs said that the DAA “haven’t given up” on the plan to run the car park in some capacity over the summer.  “If we’re not going to get to own it, we would like to operate it over the summer while [the owners] try to sell it,” he added.

The bosses of the Dublin Airport operators were speaking at a press conference on their ’2024 summer readiness’.

While the bid for the extra car-parking spaces was blocked, the DAA has a positive outlook on its parking situation this summer – despite a shortage of reasonably priced places last summer.

DAA managing director Gary McLean said that parking at the airport will be fine over the period, but the airport owners will still advise passengers that demand for spaces is high and supply is tight.

McLean added: “Our commitment is that prices will be no higher in 2024 for our car parking compared to 2023.”

“We’re advising our customers to book early and obviously consider alternative transport options. This summer, we’ll have a thousand busses-a-day and for the first time we have a network that includes all 32 counties.”

Last month, the CCPC blocked DAA’s bid to buy the private car park over concerns that the airport owners would have too much of a monopoly over parking near the airport.

In relation to DAA seeking to operate the site, a spokesperson for the Commission told The Journal: “The CCPC has always been clear that the QuickPark car park could be operated on a short-term lease without raising competition concerns.

“However, it is important that the car park is operated by a company other than daa on a lasting basis to introduce much needed competition and lower prices and we know that several parties are interested in operating this service.”

Parking spaces isn't the only thing the DAA is looking to increase this year. © RollingNews.ie © RollingNews.ie

DAA already owns and operates all other large car parks serving Dublin Airport. The CCPC cited concerns last month that the airport bosses would increase parking prices, despite receiving 6,000 additional spaces in the car park. DAA denied this claim.

The car park is currently privately owned but has been out of service since 2020 after it ceased operations during the Covid-19 pandemic. The CCPC said it stilled viewed the car park as a potentially extremely viable business opportunity, but for a different buyer.

While DAA said it was disappointed and “baffled” by the CCPC’s decision at the time, it later said it would not be appealing the watchdog’s decision.

Parking spaces isn’t the only thing the DAA is looking to increase this year as Jacobs claimed that demand at the airport and among airliners is high enough to serve up to 35 million passengers – three million more than currently allowed under the passenger cap.

The CEO said he would like Dublin Airport to be reclassified as strategic infrastructure. Jacobs said he believes that the passenger cap will cost the company jobs and that it ruins Ireland’s reputation in the aviation industry.

Jacobs said the DAA would like to see the cap scrapped, and believes its days might come to an end after a similar cap at Schiphol Airport was thrown out by the European competitions court.

However, he said the company will continue to work with Fingal County Council and the State on the cap in the meantime. Asked if a third terminal could be on the cards, Jacobs said the idea would not be tabled by the DAA for at least two more decades.