DAA has lodged an application to amend what it calls ‘two onerous planning conditions’ that are due to apply to the operation of the new North Runway and the overall runway system at Dublin Airport when North Runway begins operations.
The current conditions would limit the use of North Runway between 11pm and 7am and also place an overall limit of 65 aircraft movements across the entire airport during those hours.
Neighbours of the airport say that the conditions are crucial to preserve their quality of life but the daa argues that if the conditions are not changed, they would ‘significantly affect the operation of the airport and its key airline customers and would damage the entire Irish economy’.
Under the planning application lodged on Friday, daa is proposing the introduction of a noise quota system at night, which it says is the industry standard approach for managing night-time noise at large airports.
This proposed new quota system would operate between 11.30pm and 6am.
daa is also proposing that North Runway would only be used between 6am and midnight, meaning that there would be no flights on the new runway during the core midnight to 6am night-time hours.
‘We had originally wanted to have these two onerous conditions removed entirely,’ said daa Chief Executive Dalton Philips, ‘but having engaged with the local community and listened to their views we have revised our previous position and are now proposing very significant mitigation measures’.
Under daa’s new proposals the overall effects of night-time noise at Dublin Airport are less than envisaged under the planning permission granted in 2007, and do not exceed those in 2018, according to the airport authority.
Within the planning application, daa is also proposing a new €7 million insulation scheme for dwellings that are most affected by night-time noise. The proposed scheme would see grants of €20,000 paid to the owners of up to 350 eligible homes.
‘The new proposal balances the requirements of the Irish economy with the valid concerns of the local community,; according to Mr Philips.
He added: ‘It has never been Dublin Airport’s intention to have lots more flights in the middle of the night, but in their original form, the two conditions would have a very significant impact on Ireland’s connectivity, as the hour between 6am and 7am is Dublin Airport’s busiest time of the day.’
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