DUBLIN AIRPORT OPERATOR daa has rejected claims that it is in breach of planning permission granted for the North Runway.

Fingal County Council is currently undertaking an investigation into the North Runway’s planning permission and daa said it is “fully participating and engaging in this process”.

The first flight from the new runway, which cost €320 million and was first awarded planning permission in 2007, took off last August.

A local community group has said flight paths bear “no resemblance to those approved in 2007”.

Ballyboughal Community Council, in a statement on 22 February, added that the Standard Instrument Departures (SIDs) means “homes will continue to be overflown at low altitude with thundering, imposing noise that was never meant to be”.

The community council added that this has caused “significant trauma on many homes since August 2022”.

While the community group said residents “expect some level of noise”, the statement added: “We did not expect it to continue to ramp up to what it is now and what it is expected to be with the massive increase in day time flights and also night time flights that will begin that do not have approved planning permission in place.”

In a statement issued today, daa said it “recently undertook a review of the departure flight paths being used from the North Runway”.

The statement added that this review “identified that some Instrument Flight Procedures were not aligned to modelling assumptions included in daa’s planning submissions.

“This review was completed in accordance with the Irish Aviation Authority, which is the appropriate regulatory body, and identified that the Standard Instrument Departures (SIDs) needed to be updated.

“Revised SIDs were approved by the Irish Aviation Authority and became operational on 23 February.”

The statement from the daa added that it “continues to work closely with the local community regarding any issues they are facing as a result of operations at Dublin Airport”. 

“It is expected that a small number of dwellings which were previously on the verge of eligibility for mitigation measures may become eligible as a result of the new revised SIDs,” said the daa.

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

In an effort to “enhance tracking of aircraft using Dublin Airport”, daa said it is adding 18 new noise monitoring terminals, 16 fixed and two mobile, to the existing system.

10 fixed and three mobile monitors are already in place, with 12 further fixed monitors scheduled to be installed over the coming months.