Dublin Airport refunds customers after car park pricing error

By Cillian Sherlock, PA

Dublin Airport will refund more than 4,400 customers over incorrect car park pricing.

The Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC) said it had received numerous consumer complaints about overcharging during “flash sales” for car park spaces at Dublin Airport in March and May 2025.

The sales took place on March 10th and 11th, as well as May 6th-16th.

The flash sales advertised car parking at a promotional rate of €10 or €12 per day; however, in some cases, airport car parking was priced at a lower rate in advance of and after the promotion.

In total, consumers were overcharged by just over €25,000.

The operator of the airport, daa, has informed the CCPC that the overpayments were the result of an error on its part.

It said it will issue full refunds to all affected customers of the total cost of their booking, not just the overcharge amount.

This means that total refunds will rise to approximately 350,000, up from the approximately 25,000 that was overcharged.

Customers are also offered a 20% discount on future car park bookings as a “goodwill gesture”.

The average overpayment was approximately 5.90 euro but the maximum overpayment was 64 euro.

It is understood that 90% of those impacted being overcharged by fewer than 12 euro.

Customers are expected to be refunded within five to 10 days.

Chairman of the CCPC, Brian McHugh said he welcomed “the swift action taken by daa”.

The first flash sale happened when the Park2Travel car park site opened on the former QuickPark site at Dublin Airport, following a previous decision by the CCPC to block the sale of that site due to concerns that the deal would lead to higher prices and lower service quality for consumers.

Mr McHugh said: “The flash sales coincided with the addition of a new competitor in the airport car park market.

“Active competition among businesses is vital to drive choice, better service and innovation.

“However, any promotions need to be grounded in real benefits to consumers.”