Latest news with #DublinAirportAuthority
Extra.ie
20-07-2025
- Business
- Extra.ie
Revealed: This is how much the DAA spent on failed planning applications
The Dublin Airport Authority (DAA) has been forced to admit that it has spent almost €7 million on planning applications that have become mired in controversy. Until this week, the semi-state body had repeatedly insisted that making this information public would jeopardise its commercial viability. However, the multi-million-euro costs were finally disclosed by the Dublin Airport Authority (DAA) following the intervention of the Office of the Commissioner for Environmental Information. The Dublin Airport Authority (DAA) has been forced to admit that it has spent almost €7 million on planning applications that have become mired in controversy. Pic: Getty Images first sought this information last January when – much to the embarrassment of officials at the State firm – Fingal County Council dismissed a planning application for the authority's most high-profile venture as invalid. The rebuff followed a series of refusals by the local authority to grant planning permission for several proposed projects, including the building of a 950-space staff car park and an observation platform for plane spotters, to replace the ad hoc lay-by along the side of the airport. In a scathing statement issued at the time, Fingal County Council officials said of the planning application to increase passenger numbers at the capital's airport: 'The Planning Authority has informed the DAA that their application to raise the capacity of Dublin Airport to 36million passengers per annum is invalid.' Fingal County Council dismissed a planning application for the authority's most high-profile venture as invalid. Pic: Shutterstock The application was said to have failed to comply with several articles of the Planning and Development regulations. It was also deemed invalid because the description of the development was 'inadequate and misleading.' The local authority noted: 'Pre-planning is available to assist applicants, but did not take place for this application.' This prompted a furious response from the DAA, whose chief executive, Kenny Jacobs, accused the local authority of 'flip-flopping'. Meanwhile, when asked at the time how much it had spent on planning and environmental consultants involved in planning applications, the State company told that this information could not be released for 'commercial reasons'. More recently, the DAA refused to release information about these payments when requested an internal review. Pic: Getty Images then sought details about these payments under the EU Access to Information on the Environment legislation. But the DAA again refused to release the data, claiming the 'disclosure of this information could significantly harm its competitive position'. More recently, the DAA refused to release information about these payments when an internal review was requested by It was only when lodged an appeal with the Office of the Commissioner for Environmental Information that the authority finally released the information. In a one-page document sent late on Wednesday, the DAA disclosed that between March 2023 and February of this year, the DAA made 43 payments totalling €6.7 million to planning and environmental consultants.
Irish Examiner
04-07-2025
- Irish Examiner
Irish passengers see further 14 flights from Dublin cancelled due to French strike
Passengers heading off on summer holidays faced a second day of disruption today due to air traffic control strikes in France. The Dublin Airport Authority (daa) said that 14 flights in and out of Dublin were cancelled early today, following 20 flights being cancelled on Thursday. Travellers would also be hit by knock-on delays arising from the cancellations, it warned. It said passengers would also be affected by a ground strike in Finland, and urged passengers due to fly over mainland Europe to check directly with their airline. Unions representing air traffic controllers in France have said its members were striking over persistent understaffing, outdated equipment and a toxic management culture. Speaking on RTÉ radio, the chief executive of Cork and Dublin Airports said that Europe needs to take action to prevent ongoing disruption. 'This is the annual ransom by a very small group of French air traffic controllers,' Kenny Jacobs said. 'About 50 air traffic controllers in Paris have disrupted the plans of over half a million European travellers on the big exodus where everyone goes on their holidays and it's simply unacceptable.' Mr Jacobs said it was 'very unfair' to Irish families flying to Faro wondering why they're facing a four-to-six-hour delay because 'they're not going to France, but they're flying over France'. "The key thing that Europe needs to do is say to the French, flights over France cannot be disrupted if you're having a strike, that's your problem," he said. Ryanair, meanwhile, continued to criticise European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen over the impact of the strikes, as it said it was forced to cancel 400 flights across the two days affecting 70,000 passengers. 'Over 350 of these are overflights, which could and should be protected by the EU Commission,' Ryanair chief executive Michael O'Leary said. 'The bizarre justification for this week's ATC strike is their objection to 'short staffing'. Every year they find something new to strike about."
Irish Times
23-06-2025
- Health
- Irish Times
‘We're blasted out of it': Living under Dublin Airport's flight paths
The intrusion of flights from Dublin Airport , especially at night, has been undermining quality of life for John Harris, who lives 'under the flight path of the south runway', in the St Margaret's area of Co Dublin, since 1983. The days of when 'the planes were in the room with you' may be gone, but he knows the obvious health impacts have not gone away. And he fears that many more people living under the north runway flight path may soon have to endure similar disruptions – to sleep, in particular – if an imminent decision from An Coimisiún Pleanála eases night-time restrictions, as sought by Dublin Airport Authority. Harris's is 'the first house you hit going into the west' taking off from the south runway, which is the route taken by 70 per cent of flights because of prevailing winds. Dr Niamh Maher: 'I would never have chosen to live under a flight path.' Photograph: Alan Betson/The Irish Times A 65-flight restriction was put in place between 11pm and 7am, with a limit of 13,000 flights annually, split between 9,100 in summer and 3,900 in winter, but there is a legal stay on this pending the planning authority's decision. READ MORE The bottom line, Harris says, is that there were 95 flights per night in May, concentrated into periods from 6am to 7am and 11pm to midnight. He and his wife Jacinta 'do not sleep very deeply'. They invariably go to bed during the day for a few hours. He is conscious of not getting enough REM sleep, which is important to wellbeing. After retiring in 2014, he did a medical exam in advance of a charity walk, which identified a blood pressure issue peaking in the early evening. 'I realised this was because I was turning up the volume on the television to counter airport noise,' he says. In 2019 Harris was able to enhance double glazing at his home which helped to reduce daytime noise, but night time is different; the couple invariably wake up at about 4.30am coinciding with 'US flights coming in'. They both have tinnitus, which may be linked to constant noise intrusions. John Harris near his house under the flight path of Dublin Airport's south runway in St Margaret's, Co Dublin. Photograph: Alan Betson/The Irish Times Their two grandchildren, aged eight and five, stay with them about once a month. 'They are very sensitive to the noise. We know it's there; it really frightens them, particularly if they're in the garden,' says Harris. Harris has been part of the Dublin Airport environmental working group since 2016, so is familiar with the issues. [ Dublin Airport noise could cause heart issues for nearly 17,000 people living nearby Opens in new window ] Medical consultant Dr Niamh Maher has young children and lives under the north runway flight path. She is struck by differences between planning restrictions, supposedly to protect people, and reality. Having been reassured by Fingal County Council, the family renovated, their house on the understanding that planes were never going to fly directly overhead, only to find themselves now in the highest noise category in St Margaret's, 'which is horrific'. And since the runway opened in 2022, rather that taking a straight path, planes are deviating in the face of westerly winds and turning sharply at low altitudes. Maher, who is a spokeswoman for St Margaret's The Ward Residents Group and whose children are aged six, four and one, is worried about adverse effects on her children's learning and about sleep deprivation, with its knock-on effects. 'With windows open, it feels like you are at the airport. It makes daily life intolerable,' she says. Her eldest two children attend Kilcoskan National School which is under the 'divergent flight path, [so] they're getting this all the time'. The children are affected from 7am when the north runway opens until it closes at 11pm, she says. She is worried about two additional hours' usage if the 'relevant action' application by DAA is granted. 'We chose to live in a rural part of Dublin. We're now blasted out of it with noise, and it has been going on for three years,' she says. She is critical of airport authorites' attitudes and of inadequate enforcement, adding: 'it makes you feel helpless'. [ Living near Dublin Airport: 'The noise, it's overwhelming ... we can't open the windows, it penetrates through the whole house' Opens in new window ] Maher says simplistic 'you should move house' suggestions, or dismissal of concerns, along the lines of, 'you're living close to an airport, what do you expect?' miss the point. 'I would never have chosen to live under a flight path,' she says. Maher believes lower-noise aircraft will not solve the issue on its own. Dublin Airport is the exception in wanting to increase night-time flights when all around Europe there is a massive campaign to reduce them because of risk to public health, she adds. 'That is way this is going.'
Irish Examiner
20-06-2025
- Business
- Irish Examiner
Cork Airport named best in Europe for third time
Cork Airport was named the best airport in Europe, under five million passengers, at the Airport Council International (ACI) Europe Best Airport Awards held in Athens on Thursday night. It is the third time Cork Airport has won the award, having won it previously in 2017 and 2019. The award acknowledges Cork's excellence in passenger experience, operational efficiency, route development, sustainability and innovation. "This recognition is thoroughly deserved," Olivier Jankovec, ACI Europe director general, said. "The airport team has worked tirelessly to enhance operational efficiency, offer exceptional passenger experience, and deliver on ambitious environmental and sustainability goals. Their success is clearly reflected in increased air connectivity and passenger numbers, which means a growing contribution from the airport to the regional economy, tourism and competitiveness. Last year, Cork Airport saw 10% passenger growth to 3.2 million passengers, forecast to rise this year to 3.4 million passengers. In May, it announced a €200m investment by Dublin Airport Authority in the development of new infrastructure, including an extended mezzanine floor, larger duty-free shop, bigger executive lounge, additional car park spaces, more boarding gates, new aircraft stands, and a new pier to facilitate growth up to five million passengers. Taoiseach Micheál Martin congratulated Cork Airport. "It is clear that Cork Airport is going from strength to strength every year and this award is a reflection of the hard work and dedication of Niall MacCarthy and all his team there." Niall MacCarthy, Cork Airport's managing director, said: 'This award is a fantastic endorsement of the incredible people who make Cork Airport what it is — from our frontline teams to those behind the scenes, and everyone in between. It's also a reflection of the strong partnerships we've built with all our stakeholders, and the loyalty of our passengers who continue to choose Cork Airport.' Dublin Airport Authority chief executive Kenny Jacobs said the award was a huge recognition of the brilliant team on the ground. "This award's not just for the airport — it's for Cork, for Munster, and for Ireland. We have big plans for Cork, and this is a great boost," he said. Read More Rory Gallagher Avenue unveiled at Cork Airport to honour legendary guitarist's enduring legacy
Irish Independent
07-05-2025
- Business
- Irish Independent
DAA boss says transatlantic routes from Cork Airport ‘will come in time'
Cork native and Dublin Airport Authority CEO Kenny Jacobs says more key routes are on the way for Cork Airport Cork Airport could be connected to every major European capital city in the 'short-term', according to the CEO of the organisation that run its operations. Dublin Airport Authority Chief Executive Kenny Jacobs says that transatlantic travel will come to Cork in the longer term, with plans to extend the runway further following its reconstruction in 2021, which was supported by Government funding of €10 million.
