The chief executive of Aer Lingus has said it is "completely unacceptable" that Dublin Airport is asking the airline to consider reducing the number of "ad-hoc" flights it operates into and out of the airport next year, so that the airport can comply with its passenger cap.

Lynne Embleton described the implications of the cap as a "frustrating situation" and said the issue should have been addressed by now.

Dublin Airport is allowed to have a maximum of 32 million passengers a year under planning rules.

The airport is getting closer to the cap as demand for flights increases and wants to have the cap increased.

But in the meantime, it has opened talks with airlines about how it might avoid breaching the limit.

Lynne Embleton said there is a need to develop Dublin airport capacity and it is a national interest issue in terms of foreign direct investment and the economy.

The airline boss said the airport operator, daa, has engaged in conversations about Aer Lingus reducing its ad-hoc flights next year.

Ad-hoc flights include extra capacity laid on for sporting events, like international rugby matches or the visiting American football teams, and account for 2% of Aer Lingus traffic.

"So we don't find it acceptable at all that we would be asked to curtail from 2% of our flying at the same time as the airport encouraging and marketing themselves at various routes conferences," Ms Embleton said on a conference call with journalists following the publication of third quarter financial results for the airline's parent, IAG.

She added that there is no question of scheduled flights being impacted.

"The dialogue with the daa is over 2024 and the ad hoc movements, and we'll be making our views known to them in the meetings over the coming weeks," she claimed.

But she did also warn that if there are capacity restrictions at Dublin Airport, it could lead to the airline looking to add more capacity out of its Manchester base instead.

"Yes, we've got our UK base and…it's made a profit and …that's an option for growth as well," she said.

"But we do have aircraft coming and I'm confident that we will be able to grow our core schedule."

"These ad hoc movements is an issue that needs to be resolved."

Ms Embleton was also critical of restrictions on the use of the second runway at the airport.

"The airport spent €320 million on a new runway and we're not able to fly as much as we should be able to fly with that," she said.

"So it's not proving a good investment right now."

The airline today reported an operating profit before exceptional items of €196m for the third quarter of 2023, which it said reflected very strong demand for travel through the summer months.

It said its operating profit in the quarter exceeds that achieved in the equivalent quarters in both 2019 and 2022.

The figure for 2019 came in at €169m and the figure for 2022 came in at €139m.

"The performance allows Aer Lingus to continue to focus on repairing the airline's balance sheet which is key to funding future investment," the airline said.

Parent IAG today reported better-than-expected record profits on robust summer travel demand but warned of risks of political and macroeconomic uncertainties.

But despite today's strong figures, Aer Lingus said that after a challenging first quarter of 2023 and higher operating costs, the cumulative operating profit achieved since the start of 2023 is below that achieved to the same point in 2019.

It said it was also experiencing increased seasonality in the business and continuing high fuel prices.

While leisure travel delivered strongly in the third quarter, it said that business travel has not yet fully recovered.

Aer Lingus increased its capacity on short haul routes during the third quarter by 14% compared to the same time last year.

It noted that the increased short haul capacity performed very well with Mediterranean sun destinations and destinations such as Northern Spain, Greek Islands and Croatia all in high demand.

Aer Lingus European city routes also performed well, with strong demand including transatlantic customers seeking connectivity between North America and Europe, it added.

The airline also increased its capacity on long haul routes by 15% on the third quarter of 2022.

It said that transatlantic routes and frequency were expanded to meet increased North American passenger demand for both Irish and European destinations, underpinning its Dublin hub strategy.

The peak summer performance culminated in the arrival of over 40,000 US visitors in August for the Aer Lingus College Football Classic game between Notre Dame and Navy in Dublin.

Aer Lingus has also announced a further expansion to the North American network for Summer 2024, with new direct services next year to Denver, Colorado and Minneapolis-St. Paul.