Ryanair urge Minister Eamon Ryan to take action over Fingal County Council decision

Ryanair are urging Transport Minister Eamon Ryan to take “action” over Fingal County Council’s decision to reduce the number of flights at Dublin Airport between 11pm and 7am.

Fingal County Council said the decision follows noise complaints caused by late-night flights at the airport. They have given the airport operator 6 weeks to comply with the rule.

Dublin Airport enjoyed its busiest EVER day during July – a month which saw just over 3.4 million passengers travel through the airport.

A total of 120,585 passengers travelled through the airport on Sunday, July 30 - the highest number ever recorded in a single day. ✈️ pic.twitter.com/EXFXigeDrZ

— Dublin Airport (@DublinAirport) August 4, 2023

Ryanair CEO Eddie Wilson said in a statement earlier that Minister Ryan “must instruct Fingal County Council to withdraw their stupid enforcement notice and instead require that this night time restriction period be slightly modified from 11pm – 7pm to 12am to 6am”.

He stated that the “sensible solution” balances the needs of Irish air travel and its connectivity to Europe, with the complaints from the locals making complaints about the airport’s noise.

Wilson added that if the transport minister “fails to act” then “he should resign”.

When Dublin Airport was granted approval for a new runway in 2007, ‘Condition 5’ was created stop the number of flights from exceeding 65 between 11pm and 7am. The cap was instated to “protect residential amenity having regard to the information submitted concerning future night time use of the existing parallel”.

As a result of noise complaints, The Planning Authority launched an investigation into supposed breaches of this rule. On July 28 the local council issued a notice, giving the DAA six weeks to cut the number of flights at night.