A draft decision by the planning regulator that would significantly cut night-time flights to and from Dublin Airport would implement an unworkable system of noise regulation at the airport and have a detrimental effect on the Irish economy, Aer Lingus has said.
In a statement on Thursday morning the airline added to the growing sense of concern in aviation circles about An Bord Pleanála’s (ABP’s) draft ruling in a planning appeal brought by local residents and environmentalists. The appellants are hoping to overturn a 2022 Fingal County Council decision to grant Dublin Airport operator DAA permission to replace the cap on night-time flights with a more flexible noise quota system.
However, in its draft decision, which has been put back out for public submissions and observations until the end of December, the board said the company must drastically cut the number of night-time flights from the north runway, which opened in 2022.
The planning regulator said arriving and departing night flights – between 11pm and 7am – should be restricted to just 13,000 annually, or 36 flights per night, a significant decrease of 20,000 from the more than 36,000 night-time hour flights in 2023.
Aer Lingus said on Thursday that the draft decision represents a threat to jobs in the Republic. The airline said it was now undertaking a detailed review of the preliminary decision.
“Aer Lingus’ initial review of ABP’s draft decision indicates that an entirely new and unworkable restriction severely reducing the permitted number of night flights is now proposed,” an Aer Lingus spokesman said. “Such a new restriction would fundamentally undermine the modern noise quota system which was approved by ANCA (Aircraft Noise Competent Authority) to replace the existing aircraft movement restriction,” it said.
“It would have an extremely detrimental impact upon Dublin Airport as a hub airport, the travelling public, air connectivity to the island of Ireland, jobs and the delivery of the national aviation policy. It would also have significant negative implications for any future growth and connectivity through Dublin Airport and would undermine the €320 million investment made in the new north runway.”
The airline said it will make a formal submission on the decision before the deadline for observations closes on December 23rd.
In a statement on Wednesday, DAA said the decision would, if implemented, represent a “backward step” for aviation in the Republic because it looks to reduce the number of night-time flights beyond what even the original planning permission for the north runway envisaged in 2007. It said the decision appears to contradict itself by, on the one hand, agreeing with DAA that the cap on night flights should be replaced while, on the other, ordering a significant reduction in night-time operations from the north runway.
Local residents, meanwhile, have claimed the draft decision as a victory. On Tuesday, SMTW Forum – a group representing local residents living in the path of flights into and out of Dublin Airport in the Fingal and Meath County Council areas – said it was still reviewing the ABP decision.
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