RESIDENTS LIVING IN the areas around Dublin Airport submitted a raft of complaints about night flights and their impact on their families’ quality of life over the last year.
Householders raised broken sleep, heightened stress levels and “extreme engine noise” in complaints to the Aircraft Noise Competent Authority (ANCA).
In late July, Fingal County Council issued an enforcement notice on the airport’s operator, Daa, to reduce the number of night flights at Dublin Airport to a maximum of 65 between 11pm and 7am.
The notice was issued following an investigation into alleged breaches of planning permission obtained in respect of the airport’s North Runway, which states that the number of flights between 11pm and 7am could not exceed 65.
The notice claimed Daa breached the terms of the planning permission and gave the airport operator six weeks to comply.
However, Daa secured a temporary High Court stay on the notice in August after claiming it would be forced to cancel thousands of flights, causing disruption to over 700,000 passengers.
Daa was also granted permission to challenge the notice, which it claims is flawed, unreasoned, vague and of no legal effect.
The ANCA received 249 pieces of correspondence in relation to noise from nighttime flights between 24 August 2022 and 1 June this year.
A selection of that correspondence, released under Freedom of Information, reveals the frustration felt by residents from the noise of the flights.
In a complaint from May, one person claimed they had been subject to “constant, extreme engine noise every few minutes up until 2am” on each night that week.
“Can you please confirm that these flight paths are authorised and consistent with agreed planning permission, which I don’t believe they are?
“The noise is causing huge disruption in the neighbourhood and is totally unacceptable. Planes seem to be flying at a particularly low altitude,” they wrote.
Another complainant, who said they were elderly, wrote that they had lived in the area for over 20 years and were used to aircraft noise, but “the last three nights, the planes are right over the house, every few minutes up until 2am last night”.
“The stress of not being able to sleep is already taking its toll,” they added.
A complainant who said that they purchased their home seven years ago not knowing that it was directly under the flight path of the old south runway wrote in May that while this was difficult to adjust to, “at least I could still have my quiet hours at night for sleep”.
They wrote that in the two months before writing their complaint, “flight directions and times have seemed to flip upside down” which resulted in aircraft flying above their home “all night long, leaving me no time for undisturbed sleep”.
They wrote that they have developed insomnia and have been prescribed medication from their GP to help them to sleep.
They also asked if they could be considered for insulation for their home under the insulation grant scheme.
The planning permission for the North Runway at Dublin Airport contained a condition requiring Daa to implement a noise insulation scheme for homes within a defined noise contour in the airport’s vicinity.
In a complaint sent in April, another person said they had lived in the area for five years and for the last two months, the noise from the airport had “become unbearable”.
“The noise from aircraft taking off/landing is so loud it wakes us even wearing earplugs or noise-canceling headphones,” they wrote.
“Last night the noise continued until midnight and then the planes started consistently again this morning at 5.20am with sporadic flights during the night before this.
“The planes seem to take off every two minutes and it is incredibly disruptive to our lives. I am eight months pregnant and I feel like it is very bad for our health.”
Another complainant in April wrote that they had experienced “a massive increase in noise levels” from planes flying above their home.
They wrote that they had been living in the area for 18 years and had never experienced such high levels of noise on a constant basis.
“My quality of life and that of thousands of people who live here has dramatically worsened. There is huge research on the effects of noise on wellbeing, blood pressure and all round human and animal health,” they wrote.
“What can be done about this? I never realised this would be a consequence of the new runway and would have been complaining outside Fingal offices if I had known.”
A person who complained to the ANCA in February stated that the noise was so bad, they were being woken up at 5am and could no longer have the windows open in their home.
“Even in our living room right now when watching a TV series, we hear loud airplane noise over the show’s volume. This can’t be normal and especially since the changes made by airplanes going in and out at extended times this is affecting us in a negative manner.”
They also asked the ANCA to advise them on whether they qualified to receive “additional window insulation” under the insulation grant scheme.
“If this is not the case, can you please confirm what we can do to reduce the noise level since this is affecting our sleep and daily life?”
In January, a complainant wrote that “without being dramatic, the noise from the aircraft using the new runway is terrible”.
“The nights are the worst. It may be no background noise or colder air but separately, we are been woken up by aircraft.”
They said that while the new runway was here to stay, restrictions should be placed on nighttime flights “for everybody’s wellbeing in the surrounding areas”.
In a complaint from November last year, a person also inquired about whether they qualified for the insulation grant scheme.
They said they had been living in the area for a number of years and had a young family with children who have special needs.
“Over the last few months, the noise of planes coming in and taking off has increased dramatically, resulting in kids awake from 4.30am onwards and nobody getting a full night’s sleep, which is beginning to take its toll on the family,” they wrote.
“The planes also seem to be much lower causing more than usual noise. This is totally out of the normal for us.”
The complainant said they had not objected in any way to the new runway and were happy to see the airport progress, but the noise levels had become “a major problem for us with special needs children, who have extreme difficulties with noise and especially loud noises”.
Another complainant from November stated that they and their family had been “plagued for several weeks by the excessive noise coming from the planes taking off and landing”.
“It is going on day and night and at this point, I am exhausted as it is impossible to get a night’s sleep.
“Not only is this affecting our health, it will also affect the value of our home which I have worked extremely hard to pay for.”
In keeping with practice, the names and other identifying details of the complainants were redacted in the files released to The Journal under FOI.
In a statement to The Journal, a spokesperson for Daa said: “Balancing the needs of a major international airport like Dublin Airport, with the needs of local communities and residents is always a delicate matter, but one we take extremely seriously.
“Complaints which identify specific noise events, as opposed to just general complaints, are helpful to the process of identifying trends regarding flight routing or issues with particular airlines or aircraft. This information can then be used by daa, aviation regulators and others to inform future decision making and any remedial actions required.”
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