Dublin Airport night flights crackdown 'idiotic' says Ryanair

Dublin Airport's overnight flight movements must not exceed 65

Ryanair has criticised a bid to cut the number of overnight flights at Dublin Airport, after the airport's operator was told it is breaching current rules.

Residents living near the flight path complain they are adversely affected by aircraft noise which they say increased when a second runway opened last year.

Fingal County Council is taking enforcement action to force the airport to comply with planning rules which cap the number of night flights at 65.

Ryanair called the crackdown "idiotic".

The Irish airline said Fingal County Council cannot be allowed to "dictate national aviation policy" and it called on the government to step in.

Under the enforcement action, Dublin Airport was given six weeks to conform to the limit of 65 flights or fewer between the hours of 23:00 and 07:00.

'Overly onerous'

The cap was among the planning conditions that were imposed when the airport was granted permission to build a new "North Runway" in 2007.

That runway opened in August 2022 at a cost of €320m (£276m).

However, the airport's operator, Dublin Airport Authority (DAA), has long opposed the night flights limit as an impediment to its services.

Earlier this week DAA's chief executive Kenny Jacobs said enforcing the "overly onerous" rules would lead to disruption for passengers in peak holiday season.

He explained it would mean there would now be fewer flights between 23:00 and 07:00 than was the case before the second runway opened.

"It would be like increasing the number of seats in Croke Park [stadium] to 100,000 but cutting the capacity for games to 50,000," Mr Jacobs claimed.

"It makes no sense, and the travelling public deserves better."

However, campaigners living under the flight path complain that their sleep is being severely disrupted by the number of night time flights.

Sabrina Joyce Kemper from the Fingal Organised Residents United Movement (Forum) said they are simply asking for the existing rules to be obeyed.

Forum says hundreds of residents have attended its recent campaign meetings

She told BBC News NI that the DAA has known about the flight cap since 2007 and so had plenty of time to ensure its summer schedules were compliant.

"You cannot have a situation where a corporation is not held to the same planning laws as a citizen," she said.

"We’re only asking for the law to be applied."

But Ryanair described the council enforcement action as "idiotic" and "stupid".

It called on Transport Minister Eamon Ryan to either intervene to "protect customers and flights at Ireland’s national airport" or resign over the matter.

"Fingal County Council and a tiny number of neighbours cannot be allowed to damage or restrict air travel or connectivity to/from Ireland," the airline added.

Dublin Airport has expanded to meet demand in recent years

Responding to Ryanair's statement, Ms Joyce Kemper said the airline was acting like a "petulant teenager" and had "no real grasp" on how the noise affects thousands of residents.

Having lived in Portmarnock for 30 years, she said the disruption has become "exponentially worse" in recent months and was now affecting her school-aged children.

She said hundreds of residents have attended the forum's most recent meetings where health concerns about sleep patterns have been raised.

Ms Joyce Kemper pointed out that many new houses have been built near the airport since the original runway environmental impact assessment was carried out almost 20 years ago.

She argued that a new assessment is badly needed.

A spokeswoman for the Irish Department of Transport told BBC News NI: "As this is a planning matter, it is not appropriate for the minister to intervene."

She explained that statutory responsibility for operating Dublin Airport fell to the DAA, including compliance with planning regulations.

"However, the department will liaise closely with DAA and the Irish Aviation Authority in relation to the proposed response to the enforcement action," she added.

Drones spotted

Meanwhile on Friday at Dublin Airport, flights were suspended for about 10 minutes after a drone was spotted in the vicinity of the airfield.

It happened just after midday, leading to an Aer Lingus flight from Frankfurt and a Ryanair flight from Birmingham being diverted to Belfast.

DAA said: "The public are reminded that it is illegal to fly a drone without permission within 5km of Dublin Airport."