Night-time flight restrictions, at Dublin Airport, may be set to be lifted if new proposals are passed.
A draft proposal by the State planning authority, An Bord Pleanála, aims to lift the restrictions on night flights at Dublin and extend the airport’s normal operating hours by 2 hours.
This would allow flights to depart and land on Dublin Airport’s North Runway from 11pm to 12am midnight and between 6am and 7am; adding 2 hours to operations.
Under the proposal the cap on the number of flights allowed between 11pm and 7am will be removed and replaced with an annual night time noise quota between 11:30pm and 6am. Currently, only 65 night aircraft “movements” are allowed at Dublin Airport between 11pm and 7am.
An Bord Pleanála said the move would “not seriously injure the amenities of property in the vicinity by reasons of excessive noise disturbance at night.”
An Bord Pleanála also stressed, in its proposal, that this move has nothing to do with the current controversial 32 million person per year passenger cap at the capital’s airport.