Locals have not ruled out a legal challenge to a planning decision limiting night flights at Dublin Airport to 35,672 a year.
Planning appeals board An Coimisiún Pleanála this week allowed the airport to operate its second north runway for an extra two hours but capped night flights at a total of 35,672 a year.
Local group St Margarets The Ward Residents, which criticised Thursday’s decision, has not ruled out a High Court challenge, it emerged on Friday.
A spokesman said the organisation was still studying the planners’ ruling. “However, the timing of the planning decision, with the courts and legal professionals going on holidays, has not been ideal from that perspective,” he added.
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An Coimisiún Pleanála limited all flights between 11pm and 7am at the airport to 35,672 a year. That is an average of 98 flights per night, compared to an existing condition limiting night flights to 65.
[ Airlines claim new Dublin Airport night flight limit will hit growthOpens in new window ]
It extended the north runway’s opening hours to 6am to midnight, from 7am to 11pm.
The airstrip can only open between midnight and 6am in “certain exceptional circumstances”.
The south runway will remain open through the night.
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Planners also ruled that a quota system based on planes’ noise classifications should be used to manage noise at night.
They also ruled that airport operator DAA should provide insulation and other protections for homes close to the airport, something the company said it had already begun doing.
Airlines Aer Lingus and Ryanair warned that the ruling would hit growth at the airport during key early morning hours for both European and transatlantic flights.
Ryanair pointed out night flights at Dublin Airport are already approaching the annual total that the commission set this week.
Meanwhile, air travel regulator the Irish Aviation Authority (IAA), indicated that it may have to take the noise quota and flight limits into account when deciding on conditions for allocating take-off and landing slots at the airport.
The authority said any decision depended on “relevant factors and considerations at the time of making the determination in question”.
However, it added the EU regulation governing how airport slots are allocated “contemplates” that operating restrictions including noise quotas and aircraft movement limits may be taken into account in determining slot allocations to airlines.
DAA did not comment on Friday. Reacting to the commission’s ruling earlier this week, it said it paved the way for the State company to advance an application to Fingal County Council to increase a passenger limit at Dublin to 40 million from 32 million currently.
The controversial cap, imposed by planners in 2007, has angered Irish and international airlines operating at Dublin Airport. They challenged the measure last year in the High Court, which referred key issues to the European courts, suspending its implementation.
However, the planning condition remains in place pending the outcome of DAA’s application and the High Court action.
