Flight plan and passenger cap row back with a bang

The Dublin Airport Authority and Fingal County Council are on a collision course as the rows over noise complaints and passenger caps rumbles on.

As we reported last week, a group of residents who have complained about noise ever since the North Runway opened in August 2022 have sought solutions to the issue while the long-running row of the passenger cap at the airport has put the government and airlines at loggerheads once again. 

Fingal County Council has prepared a draft Noise Action Plan for Dublin Airport and is now looking for members of the public to have their say on the issue.

A public consultation opened on September 3 and will run until October 15.

Members of the public can have their say via the internet (consult.fingal.ie/en/content/draft-dublin-airport-noise-action-plan-2024-2028), by email ([email protected]) or in writing to Dublin Airport Noise Action Plan, Fingal County Council, County Hall, Main Street, Swords, Co Dublin K67 X8Y2.

Mayor of Fingal County Council Brian McDonagh said “I have no confidence or trust in the DAA’s willingness to address noise-related health problems or carbon emissions.”

“The Minister for Transport needs to make complying with WHO noise recommendations and international climate targets part of the remit of the Board and Chief Executive of the DAA.”

“Unauthorised development is an offence, plain and simple. Despite what the DAA said, the responsibility to comply with the planning condition in relation to the 32 million passenger cap lies solely with the DAA and they need to take the necessary measures to ensure they are in compliance with planning law.”

“Planning permissions are there to protect the environment and the community,” the Labour councillor said.

McDonagh said that Fingal County Council are sticking to their guns on the issue.

“Fingal County Council’s planning policy already provides a framework for the Airport to get to 40 million passengers per year. It is all laid out in the Fingal Development Plan and the Dublin Airport Local Area Plan which Dublin Airport can’t change or I can’t change just by waving my hand.”

“As far as I am aware the planners in Fingal are still waiting for the DAA to respond to the questions they were asked last February. That’s over six months. Kenny Jacobs can go on the media all he likes but until the DAA respond nothing is going to happen.”

James Lawless, Minister of State at the Department of Transport, said he will be attending a meeting with Ryanair boss Michael O’Leary next week.

O’Leary has been among the most vocal critics of Dublin Airport’s passenger cap, and has repeatedly taken to the airwaves to warn of lost business at Dublin Airport and being forced to spike up airline ticket prices.

This summer, O’Leary used his trademark hyperbole to warn of €1000 return flights between Dublin and London at Christmas should the passenger cap not be raised.

Lawless said, “the prospect of constraints on connectivity is a matter of concern for me in terms of its potential impact on the travelling public, business and tourism.”

“I wish to reiterate that this Government is in favour of increasing the capacity of Dublin Airport, which is in line with the National Aviation Policy.”

“My objective is to ensure that connectivity to and from Ireland can continue to grow and I believe this can be achieved in the short to medium term, through our other airports at Cork and Shannon which are ready and able to take more passengers.”

Lawless, like everyone, is “keenly awaiting” An Bord Pleanála decision about night flights at Dublin Airport.

The issue has been under consideration since August 2022.

“This decision concerns the night-time operations on the new runway at the airport and is key to daa progressing the planning application to amend the existing planning condition limiting the number of passengers using the two terminals at Dublin Airport to 32m passengers per annum,” the Fianna Fáil Minister said.

“Ensuring the planning authorities are adequately resourced is key to ensuring decisions are made in a reasonable time frame. I expect that the increase in resources at An Bord Pleanála, both at the board and staff level, will improve the decision-making capacity of the board significantly.”

Dublin Chamber of Commerce said that the passenger cap must be lifted “as a matter of urgency.”

Dublin Chamber CEO, Mary Rose Burke said “a total of 3.46 million passengers went through Dublin Airport, making this August the busiest month in its history, but it is clear that artificial brakes have been put on Dublin Airport’s growth.”

“Dublin Airport is Ireland’s busiest airport by some margin and if the trends seen this August were seen every day, it would be a 40 million passenger facility.”

“Ireland as an open island economy is extremely dependent on air connectivity to allow us to thrive in a global economy. To place a cap on the airport due to years old planning conditions which are now obsolete is nonsensical”.

Of course, the demands of commerce must be balanced with the human costs.

In last week’s Northside People, this newspaper reported on how the daa is reacting to claims surrounding noise disruptions for local residents and allegations that airlines are drifting from the pre-established flight plans set out by Fingal County Council.

Northside People requested a response to the claims being made in the article from daa after going to press and received the following statement from them: 

“daa is very aware that airport operations have an impact on local communities and works hard to minimise this,” they said. 

“Our job is to operate a major international airport and ensure Ireland has the connectivity it needs with the world.”

“We have to strike a balance between this and the needs of those living close to the airport. That’s always going to be difficult, but we are constantly working to minimise the impact and listen to community feedback.”

They’ve pointed to the installation of 23 fixed noise monitors as well as the deployment of three mobile monitors at locations throughout counties Dublin, Meath and Wicklow in a bid to comply with noise regulations.

“These monitors help Dublin Airport to monitor aircraft noise in communities and understand the impact. We have a comprehensive noise insulation scheme which has been offered to more than 200 local residences and delivered to over 160 homes to date.”

“This scheme covers full insulation of the eligible homes.  A voluntary buy-out option has also been offered to 38 homeowners in the vicinity of the airport, with six purchases completed so far. We also visit affected people in the community to hear their feedback directly and meet regularly with community groups,” they said.

However, they said a “wide range of factors must be considered in the design of flight paths, and proposals from local groups – which may run contrary to each other – needs to be considered in a structured and coherent manner and not in isolation. “

“daa is engaged with AirNav – the authority designated to provide air navigation services at state airports under Irish law – and other relevant agencies to determine how a consultation process could be run in the future.”