DAA set to seek increase in capacity of Dublin Airport to 40m passengers per year

The operator of Dublin Airport is expected to seek planning permission to increase the number of passengers allowed to travel through the transport hub to 40 million per year.

The DAA outlined its intention to submit a planning application to increase capacity beyond the current 32 million cap before the end of 2023 during a high-level meeting with Fingal County Council.

The airport has bounced back after travel restrictions in place during the Covid-19 pandemic seeing just over 28.1 million passengers in 2022.

The planning permission for Terminal 2 includes a condition that states the combined capacity for the two terminals at Dublin Airport must not exceed 32 million passengers annually.

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Minutes of a February 15th meeting between recently appointed DAA chief executive Kenny Jacobs and officials from the council and its Aircraft Noise Competent Authority (ANCA) show the future growth of the airport was discussed.

The document states the council was informed that a planning application dealing with the passenger cap will be submitted this year.

Fingal council told The Irish Times that the DAA had “indicated their intention to commence formal pre-planning meetings with the council for proposals to develop the airport to a capacity of 40 million passengers per annum”.

A DAA spokesman said: “Any future planning applications will be in the context of our plans to increase the capacity of Dublin Airport to 40 million passengers per annum by the end of the decade.”

The council’s 2020 Dublin Airport Local Area Plan says there is space within the two existing terminals to accommodate the growth to 40 million.

It says this would be subject to “the reconfiguration of different parts of the terminal processing areas to alleviate bottlenecks (arrival, departure-processing facilities, immigration, baggage reclaim and US pre-clearance facilities)“.

The council’s chief executive, Annmarie Farrelly, wrote to Mr Jacobs in February seeking an “urgent meeting” to discuss various aspects of the operations at Dublin Airport.

Her letter says the opening of the new runway “is a great achievement for the airport and indeed for Ireland, due to the benefits this enhancement of the airport facilities brings to both the economy and as a leisure amenity”.

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She sought the meeting in the context of her planning authority and ANCA responsibilities and also wrote, “It would be valuable to understand the detail of where aircraft will be flying as a result of changed flightpaths, from February 23rd.”

Residents in some north Dublin communities have been complaining about aircraft noise and flight paths since the new runway opened last August.

The minutes of the February 15th meeting state that the council raised “community concerns related to the operation of the north runway”.

Fingal issued a letter to the DAA last year notifying it of an investigation into alleged non-compliance with the runway’s planning permission. The council said on Monday that the investigation was “ongoing”.

A DAA spokesman said it “rejects any claims that it is in breach of planning permission granted in respect of the north runway” and it was “fully participating and engaging” in the investigation process.

He said a review of the departure flight paths being used from the north runway identified that some instrument flight procedures were not aligned to modelling assumptions included in the DAA’s planning submissions.

New Standard Instrument Departures (SIDS) were approved by the Irish Aviation Authority and they became operational on February 23rd.

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The spokesman said the DAA was working “closely” with the local community and it was expected that a small number of dwellings previously on the verge of eligibility for mitigation measures may become eligible as a result of the revised SIDS.

He said: “We intend to engage with these dwellings regarding the required mitigations as soon as possible.”

Eighteen new noise-monitoring terminals are to be added to the existing system, the spokesman added.

He said: “It is not appropriate for DAA to further discuss matters which are the subject of ongoing statutory planning enforcement and appeals processes.”