Dublin Airport night flights: rule on limits a ‘necessity’ to manage health effects from plane noise

Three experts in noise control have urged An Bord Pleanála to retain a proposed rule that would limit night-time flights at Dublin Airport, calling it “an absolute necessity” to manage health effects from the noise of low-flying planes. The three academics, who have expertise in acoustics, noise control, mechanical engineering and urban planning, said in a letter to the board that the absence of a movement limit for aircraft would mean “some aircraft could operate without restriction, undermining the system’s intent to reduce noise impacts”. Eoin King, a lecturer in mechanical engineering at NUI Galway, John Kennedy, an assistant professor of engineering at Trinity College Dublin, and Enda Murphy, a professor at the school of architecture, planning and environmental policy at UCD, made their observations as part of the board’s public consultation. They said the board’s proposed conditions were “a positive step forward” that “not only provides greater flexibility during the busy summer months but also aligns with best practices for managing airport noise”. The subject of how many flights are permitted into and out of Dublin Airport has been a source of controversy in recent years, generating planning battles and High Court cases and planning battles related to both the airport’s passenger cap of 32m and the noise limits attached to the use of its runways. In September, the planning board issued a draft ruling proposing to remove the cap on night-time flights at the airport and replace it with an annual noise quota in conjunction with seasonal aircraft movement limits. The decision replaced the current arrangement where Dublin Airport is limited to 65 or fewer flights between the hours of 11pm and 7am each night with a limit of 13,000 flights annually, split between 9,100 in summer and 3,900 in winter.<br/>