The airline said it has commenced a “detailed review” of Monday’s decision by the planning agency, but said its initial impressions are less than positive.
That draft decision, relating to an application for a ‘relative action’ by airport administrator Daa regarding an historic planning permission for the airport’s north runway, would see Dublin Airport required to restrict its number of night flights to 13,000 per year — a figure some 20,000 shy of the number of such flights being handled at the airport at present.
Daa itself had already criticised the decision earlier this week as not being reflective of “what was intended from this process”, arguing that the ruling contained “significant contradictions”.
The organisation’s application had aimed to have the current cap of 65 flights per night removed in favour of a ‘night-time noise quota’ system. While An Bord Pleanála’s decision had agreed to remove that cap, in applying a new movements restriction the airport would in effect be restricted to operating just 36 night flights per day on average.
“Aer Lingus’ initial review of the draft decision indicates that an entirely new and unworkable restriction severely reducing the permitted number of night flights is now proposed,” a spokesperson for the airline said, arguing that the new restriction would “fundamentally undermine” the new noise quota system.
The spokesperson said that, should the draft decision become binding, it “would have an extremely detrimental impact upon Dublin Airport as a hub airport, the traveling public, air connectivity to the island of Ireland, jobs and the delivery of the National Aviation Policy”.
They added that the decision would have “significant negative implications for any future growth and connectivity” at the airport, and would “undermine” the €320m which was invested in the north runway ahead of its opening in August 2022.
The spokesperson said that the airline “will now undertake a comprehensive assessment of the full implications” of the decision, before lodging a formal submission.
The decision is now subject to 14 weeks of public consultation before a final ruling is made.
