LAST UPDATE | 17 Jul

RESTRICTIONS ON THE number of overnight take-offs at Dublin Airport have been lifted, after proposals to limit flights to fewer than 36 flights per night were rejected by An Coimisúin Pleánala.

An average of 95 planes can now take off and land at night at Dublin Airport, after operator DAA sought to remove restrictions which limited how many flights could use the runways.

An Coimisúin Pleánala has also granted a two-hour extension to the operating hours of Dublin Airport’s second runway, known as the north runway, which had previously been closed at night.

Aeroplanes can now use the north runway until midnight and from 6am.

The new limit placed on number of late-night take-offs and landings has increased from 65 to 95 today, marking the end of a long-running row over nighttime flights between local north Dublin residents, environmental activist, airlines and the airport’s operator. 

Speaking to RTÉ Radio One, DAA communications manager Graeme McQueen said that the airport will not be immediately increasing flights. 

“More noise is not something that we want, but more impact on local communities is not what we want either,” he said.

“So we’ll be doing a lot of work, on an ongoing basis on the back of this, to make sure that the impact of Dublin Airport is minimal on those people living closely.”

A draft ruling by the commission in September was met with criticism after it proposed further restricting the total number of late-night flights to 13,000 per year over noise concerns.

DAA and airlines warned of the potential impact that the limit would have on operations, businesses, cargo and passengers. The proposal was almost 60% less than the number of flights which took off at night in 2023.

Local residents’ groups and environmental activists had also appealed the draft decision over the extension of the north runway’s opening times.

Transport minister and local Fianna Fáil TD Darragh O’Brien has today welcomed the final decision, noting that conditions have been attached to the decision which provides for an average of 98 aircraft movements a night. 

There is also to be no use of the new north runway between midnight and 6am except in exceptional specified circumstances and an insulation scheme for eligible property owners is to be rolled out. 

In a statement, the minister reiterated the importance of DAA engaging with neighbouring communities in relation to the noise insulation scheme and other matters of concern that some local residents have.

O’Brien is also currently exploring options to remove a legal passenger cap from Dublin Airport.

With reporting by Christina Finn