As you will be aware, on the 17th of July 2025, An Coimisiún Pleanála ("ACP"), in its role as the Appeals Body for Aircraft Noise Regulation (per Section 10 of the Aircraft Noise (Dublin Airport) Regulation Act 2019), published its Decision in relation to night-time air traffic operations at Dublin Airport, which included, amongst other conditions, a restriction on flights on the new north runway between midnight and 6am except in exceptional specified circumstances.
On the 8th of August 2025, ACP notified the EU Commission of the operating restrictions set out in its July 2025 decision, as required under Article 8 of Regulation (EU) 598/2014, and the EU Commission subsequently undertook an assessment of the process followed by ACP in its decision.
On the 10th of February 2026, following completion of its assessment, the EU Commission issued a notification advising that the process used by ACP for the proposed introduction of operating restrictions at Dublin Airport did not fully follow the Balanced Approach process, as set out in Regulation (EU) 598/2014.
The Balanced Approach involves consideration of a range of measures, such as reduction of noise at source, effective land-use planning and management, and noise abatement operational procedures, before implementing any noise-related operating restrictions at an airport.
In line with the provisions of Regulation (EU) 598/2014 and the Aircraft Noise (Dublin Airport) Regulation Act 2019, as the independent competent authority for this matter on appeal, ACP will now have to examine this Decision and to determine the most appropriate next steps.
Given that this is currently an open case with ACP, it would be inappropriate to comment further at this time.
