The Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC) said it was blocking the sale of the former QuickPark car park facility due to concerns that the deal would lead to higher prices and lower service quality for consumers. The CCPC’s investigation found the deal would substantially lessen competition in car parking serving Dublin Airport, as daa would own over 90% of the public car parking spaces if the purchase went ahead. The CCPC found that while there are six hotels providing car parking to airport passengers, these car parks are very small in comparison, with five of the six having a share of approximately 1% each.
Commenting on the decision, the CCPC Chairperson, Brian McHugh said, “Competition among businesses is vital to drive value, consumer choice, and innovation. Our investigation found that this deal would eliminate daa’s only significant competitor for public car parking serving Dublin Airport and result in daa essentially having a near monopoly. This would be likely to lead to higher prices for consumers because daa would not have to compete to win car parking customers.”
As expected, daa issued a statement expressing their disappointment with the decision of the CCPC. In the statement, the CEO of daa, Kenny Jacobs said, “daa is committing to keep summer 2024 prices in line with summer 2023. We will also do everything we can to find alternative potential summer car park sites and we will keep passengers informed via the Dublin Airport website. As always, our advice to the public is to book early. At the same time, we will continue to promote the alternative travel options available, including an average of more than 1,000 bus departures from the airport every day – all while frustrated passengers pass by the QuickPark facility which remains empty. daa did all it could over the past 13 months to satisfy the CCPC including offering to give up as a remedy one third of the spaces to a third party. We will review the CCPC’s decision and consider all options, including an appeal.”
