Residents say Daa claims about flight paths are 'factually incorrect' 

When the north runway opened, flights immediately began to turn over north Dublin, a practice which continues and which has caused 'great suffering' in local communities, residents say. Picture Colin Keegan, Collins Dublin

Residents in north Dublin have dismissed statements by the head of airport administrator Daa about flight paths over the county as “factually incorrect”, and say his assertion he is meeting residents is “farcical”.

An RTÉ Prime Time special on Tuesday dealt with the issue of flight paths from Dublin Airport’s new north runway diverging over local communities, an issue previously covered by the Irish Examiner, and the fact the airport is apparently consistently in breach of a condition of the runway's planning permission — that there be no more than 65 flights in and out of the airport each night.

At the end of the programme, Daa chief executive Kenny Jacobs said the current flight paths were what had been “intended” when the runway opened in August 2022.

When planning was granted for the €300m runway in 2007, the flight paths by which the project was environmentally assessed would have seen planes fly in a straight line for five nautical miles upon leaving the airport.

However, when the runway opened, flights immediately began to turn over north Dublin, a practice which continues and which has caused “great suffering” in local communities which now have to live with the constant noise of low-flying aircraft, according to local residents group Forum (Fingal Organised Residents United Movement).

“This is not the flight path that was planned and had been communicated with the public for years before the runway opened,” a spokesperson for Forum said.

“To make such a statement is factually incorrect, unless of course the stance of the Daa always was to use certain flight paths and disregard all the conditions that led to the acquisition of that planning in the first place.”

The group added Mr Jacobs’ stated preference to replace the 65-flight-limit for night-time flights — which has been breached consistently since August 2022 by a factor of close to 100% — with a ‘noise quota’ system will likely “enable Daa to fly as many planes out of Dublin Airport overnight as they like” and “will definitely not solve the noise issue”.

In his interview, Mr Jacobs said Daa was “a good neighbour” to locals, and added he was happy to meet anyone affected by the noise, the latter statement in particular drawing ire from local residents.

“Kenny Jacobs’ comments that he is out in the community and meeting with residents are ridiculous and farcical,” the Forum spokesperson said.

“He has been asked numerous times to meet with residents in the community and he has either refused or delegated,” they added.