Aer Lingus (EI, Dublin International) has expressed concerns about a draft decision from Ireland's national planning appeals board, An Bord Pleanála (ABP), that proposes reductions in nighttime flights at Dublin International.
In the draft, the regulator said that arriving and departing night flights - between 2300L (2200Z) and 0700L (0600Z) - should be restricted to 13,000 annually, or 36 flights per night. This is a significant decrease from the more than 36,000 nighttime flights in 2023, the Irish Times reported.
In a statement shared with ch-aviation, Aer Lingus argues that this would create an "unworkable" noise regulation system. The carrier is conducting a detailed review of the proposal, which relates to the night-time operating conditions for the north runway at Dublin Airport.
"Aer Lingus’ initial review of ABP’s draft decision indicates that an entirely new and unworkable restriction severely reducing the permitted number of night flights is now proposed. Such a new restriction would fundamentally undermine the modern noise quota system, which was approved by the Aircraft Noise Competent Authority (ANAC) to replace the existing aircraft movement restriction.
"It would have an extremely detrimental impact upon Dublin Airport as a hub airport, the travelling public, air connectivity to the island of Ireland, jobs and the delivery of the National Aviation Policy. It would also have significant negative implications for any future growth and connectivity through Dublin Airport and would undermine the EUR320 million euros (USD356 million) investment made in the new north runway," the airline said.
A decision will be made pending public submissions, due by December 23, 2024. Aer Lingus plans to submit formal feedback by the December deadline.
The ABP draft decision responds to an appeal from residents and environmentalists seeking to overturn a 2022 Fingal County Council (FCC) ruling that allowed Dublin Airport operator DAA to replace a cap on nighttime flights with a flexible noise quota system.
Meanwhile, the DAA has warned that the airport's passenger numbers in 2024 are likely to exceed the total 32 million cap, as the airport has already recorded 22.7 million passengers so far this year. It has applied to the FCC to increase the cap to 40 million.
