Residents living in the vicinity of Dublin Airport have said the decision to increase the number of night-time flights will “subject thousands of people to unnecessary noise and pollution”.
Dublin Airport has been granted planning permission to increase the number of night-time flights it can operate, and extend the hours that it can use its second runway.
The number of flights permitted at the airport as a whole has increased from an average of 65 a night to 95 between 11pm and 7am.
Up to now, flights were not allowed to take off or land on the second runway, known as the north runway, between 11pm and 7am, but they can now use the runway up to midnight and from 6am.
In a statement released this afternoon, St Margaret’s The Ward Residents Group said: “What makes this approval particularly egregious is that the flight paths could have been routed over uninhabited solar panel fields, which have been lying barren for over 20 years in anticipation of authorised flight paths.
“Instead, the decision intentionally subjects thousands of people to unnecessary noise and pollution, which could have been easily avoided.
“This decision is reckless, short-sighted, and harmful.
“The repercussions of this decision extend far beyond the communities of St. Margaret’s and The Ward. Areas such as Malahide, Kinsealy, and Portmarnock will experience a vast increase in night-time flights.”
However, Dublin Airport said a noise quota scheme would apply to aircraft movement across the airport, meaning that the type of aircraft that take off and land during night time hours would be limited depending on the noise they emit.
Aircraft that go over a particular noise limit will not be able to take off or land at night.
In its decision, An Comisiún Pleanála said it applied a restriction of 35,672 night-time flights to “protect residential amenity”.
It said the cap would allow for airport growth while providing an essential safeguard against excessive night-time activity.
The Commission also said it had decided to apply both a cap and a noise quota as it believed a quota system alone “could permit an increase in the number of night-time flights, without adequately considering the cumulative impact of increased flight volume on surrounding communities and environment”.
Last September there was confusion in the transport industry, when the Coimisiún issued a draft decision on night-time flights which appeared to some to be contradictory.
At the time, it said that was extending the operating hours for night flights by two hours and replacing a cap on night flights with an annual night-time noise quota.
However, it also said that it would limit night-time flights between 11pm and 7am to 13,000 annually and that the North Runway could only be used for departures between 6-8am.
Airport operator daa said the draft ruling would reduce the average number of night-time flights to around 35, compared to the 65 that had previously been permitted.
Ibec, Chambers Ireland, the Irish Exporters’ Association, Enterprise Ireland and the Irish Aviation Authority also expressed concern about the decision.
The draft decision from An Coimisiún Pleanála followed an appeal by local residents and Friends of the Irish Environment against a decision in June 2022 by the the Aircraft Noise Competent Authority (ANCA) – an independent entity within Fingal County Council (FCC) – to ease the restrictions on night-time flights.
The uncertainty around night-time flights has been seen as a barrier to resolving the ongoing debate about the passenger cap at Dublin Airport.
Calls to scrap passenger cap
There have been calls for the Government to scrap the 32-million-a-year passenger limit at Dublin Airport which was imposed 18 years ago as part of planning permission for the construction of the new terminal at the airport.
In a statement this afternoon, Aer Lingus said it was reviewing An Comisiún Pleanála’s decision, saying that an initial review confirmed the original decisions of the ANCA and FCC which included altering the permitted operational hours for the northern runway and introducing the noise quota scheme.
It said: “Aer Lingus notes that in addition to the NQS, the ACP final decision also introduces a restriction to the permitted number of night flights at a level of 35,672 movements per year.
“Aer Lingus believes that the NQS on its own was a full solution to deal with the issue of night-time noise and that the addition of a movement restriction was entirely unnecessary.
“It is likely to have the effect of restricting future growth of north Atlantic traffic and the basing of additional short-haul aircraft in Dublin, with consequent negative economic and employment impacts.
“Aer Lingus notes however, that the final ACP decision altered the movement restriction from the totally unworkable level that was contained in the draft decision.”
“Following ACP’s final decision, Aer Lingus now calls upon the Government to address the remaining impediment to development at Dublin Airport by urgently legislating for the removal of the passenger cap,” it added.
Minister for Transport Darragh O’Brien, who is also a TD for the area in which the airport is located, said he is seeking advice from the Attorney General about whether he could use legislation to change the passenger cap.
Niamh Maher, a spokesperson for St Margaret’s The Ward Residents Group, said the decision does not address the impact that aircraft noise has on communities surrounding Dublin Airport.
Ms Maher, who lives under the flight path of the North Runway, said the increase in night-time flights will have a negative impact on peoples’ ability to sleep and that the decision does not take into consideration the health impact on those suffering sleep disturbance as a result of aircraft noise.
Decision unlocks more efficient utilisation of Dublin Airport – daa
While daa is reviewing the details, the Dublin Airport operator said it welcomed today’s decision by An Coimisiún Pleanála.
While North Runway will continue to have no night-time take-offs or landings, it can now be operated between 6am and midnight, which is two hours longer than previously, daa said.
“This unlocks more efficient utilisation of this vital national infrastructure which future-proofs Dublin Airport’s capacity to manage further passenger growth,” it added.
It also said the certainty provided by the decision removes a significant barrier to the progress of daa’s separate Infrastructure Application which seeks permission for a range of significant investments in critical infrastructure and sustainability improvements at Dublin Airport.
“The IA also seeks permission to increase the annual number of passengers to 40 million, in line with national aviation policy, the Fingal Development Plan and the Dublin Airport Local Area Plan,” it added.
Media Relations Manager at daa Graeme McQueen, added that the company was “always looking to engage” with the local community around the airport.
“More noise is not something that we want, but more impact on local communities is not what we want either.”
He said: “We’ll be doing a lot of work on an ongoing basis on the back of this (decision) to make sure that the impact at Dublin Airport is minimal on those people living closely.”
Mr McQueen said that the decision would not mean necessarily extra flights but gives “headroom”.
He added there will still be around the same number (of flights) as currently, “as few as 60 or 70 flights a night” in winter, a figure he said in summer “does tend to go up”.
“It’s not going to mean a massive increase, but this just gives us the certainty and that bit of headroom that we need as a fast-growing country,” he said.
Kenny Jacobs, the daa CEO, said that North Runway is a critical enabler for the growth of Dublin Airport, which is needed to keep pace with population increases and economic opportunities.
“We invested hundreds of millions in a second runway to benefit Ireland but have been hamstrung in using it effectively since it opened,” Mr Jacobs said.
“We welcome the clarity today’s decision brings which removes uncertainty for Dublin Airport and the airlines, as well as having a positive impact on jobs and investment in Ireland,” he said.
“However, we are disappointed with the night-time movements cap which is on top of a noise quota. We also reaffirm our clear commitment to engaging with the local community to mitigate the impact of airport operations and have already begun to implement the noise insulation grant scheme,” he said.
“Today’s decision is also key to unlocking the block preventing Fingal County Council from progressing our application to build the piers and stands needed to enable Dublin Airport to grow to 40 million passengers a year,” Kenny Jacobs said.
“We will work with FCC to enable a decision on the IA before the end of the year. We need to start building – that’s our biggest issue and we need planning permission to do that”, he added.
Mr Jacobs also said the daa welcomes the Government’s commitment to resolving the airport cap issue and look forward to confirmation of their legislative proposal to remove the outdated cap this autumn.
“At a time of great global economic uncertainty, taking bold, ambitious steps is essential for our small, open, island economy and sets Ireland up for the future,” he concluded.
