Night-time noise from Dublin Airport flights ‘still a concern’

While the airport is “on track” to achieve the medium and long-term objectives of the Nao, nevertheless “night-time noise exposure remains a concern”, the local authority said.

The objective of the Nao — set by the Aircraft Noise Competent Authority, an independent directorate within the local authority itself — is to reduce the harmful effects of aircraft noise compared to how the situation stood in 2019.

Fingal said that the fact that the night-time impacts of the aircraft noise have worsened requires assessment, and that a process to evaluate those impacts is under way.

Airport administrator Daa has been at loggerheads with residents in the airport’s surrounding communities over a number of issues in recent years, notably the impact of alternate flight paths and night-time flights in the aftermath of the opening of the north runway in August 2022.

A spokesperson for Daa said that the issue of more people being affected by night-time noise than in 2019 “is almost entirely attributed to population growth in overflown areas during this time”.

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

‘It’s a non-action plan’

One local resident dismissed the likely impact of the new 288-page noise action plan as inconsequential, saying it fails to reproduce the original 119 submissions received as part of its public consultation earlier this year.

In lieu of publishing those submissions, the plan instead categorises them into 12 separate themes, under headings like ‘planning and compliance’ and ‘operational flight paths’.

“This isn’t an action plan, it’s a non-action plan,” the resident claimed.

The airport remains caught in a logjam of legal actions in terms of multiple facets of its administration, from much-maligned flight paths from the new runway to the issue of night flights to the 32 million passenger cap the hub is required to adhere to.

A final decision is set to be handed down by An Bord Pleanála regarding the future of the current night-time flight limit of 65 after December 23.