An Bord Pleanála rules Dublin Airport must cut night flights by 20,000

In a draft decision, the planning regulator said that night flights should be restricted to just 13,000 ‘movements’ per annum, or 36 flights per night. However, at least 33,000 flights passed through the airport during night-time hours in 2023, or about 90 per night.

An Bord Pleanála has ruled that night-time flights to and from Dublin Airport be dramatically cut from their current levels in a long-awaited decision regarding the airport’s newest north runway.

In a draft decision, the planning regulator said that night flights — those arriving and taking off between 11pm and 7am — should be restricted to just 13,000 ‘movements’ per annum, or 36 flights per night.

Under the original planning permission granted for the north runway in 2007, just 65 flights are permitted to land and take off at Dublin Airport each night.

However, at least 33,000 flights passed through the airport during night-time hours in 2023, or about 90 per night, while 98 made use of the airport last month during the same hours.

The 13,000 limitation would be split unevenly between the ‘summer’ and ‘winter’ seasons at the airport, with 9,100 flights allowed in the 92-day-long former period.

That uneven split would see summer night-time flights allowable at a rate of 99 per day, with the remaining 273 days of the year restricted to roughly 14 night flights daily.

The decision will now go out to a 14-week public consultation ending on December 23, before a final decision is handed down. 

Local residents’ group St Margaret’s The Ward Residents (SMTW) said it “welcomes” the decision.

“An Bord Pleanála's recognition of the severe damage caused by these flights, particularly in terms of noise pollution and the adverse effects on public health, underscores the necessity of this limit to protect the well-being of local residents,” a spokesperson said.

A spokesperson for Daa said the organisation “notes the draft decision by An Bord Pleanála on the north runway relevant action and will now consider the detail of the draft decision”.

The draft decision concerns an application for a ‘relevant action’ on the part of Daa to fundamentally alter the planning permission restrictions placed on the airport when the new north runway entered use two years ago.

The relevant action, which would have seen the 65-flight night-time restriction removed in favour of a ‘night-time noise quota’ system, was initially approved by Fingal County Council, before being appealed to An Bord Pleanála by groups including the Friends of the Irish Environment in August 2022.

Dublin Airport’s north runway first went live in August of 2022, and caused a furore among local residents after planes began using takeoff flight paths at odds with those required by the original planning permission.

Those flight paths are not addressed in the draft decision however.

Surprise

The new decision is likely to come as a surprise to all stakeholders. While ABP has broadly endorsed the initial decision by the local authority, it has also – via the 13,000 night flight stipulation - sought to apply flight movement restrictions to the airport, a common aspect of night-time regulations at other European airports, but not hitherto applied in Ireland.

The 13,000 restriction is not the only notable aspect of the decision – the draft ruling also asserts that the north runway, which was previously banned from facilitating take offs and landings between 11pm and 7am, shall now “be used for departure only” between the hours of 6am and 8am.