Fingal County Council says a decision on the updated planning application from Dublin Airport Authority cannot proceed until it receives direction ruling from the Aircraft Noise Competent Authority (ANCA).
In a written statement it claimed Daa has yet to submit the outstanding information which was requested by ANCA in March 2024 for this assessment.
It follows the submission of what Dublin Airport Authority calls its comprehensive response to Fingal County Council’s (FCC) extensive Request for Further Information (RFI) regarding its application to increase the airport’s annual passenger cap to 40m.
The original 7,000 page application was submitted by daa in December, but in February the council requested 85 items of further information, totalling 415 sub-queries.
DAA Chief Executive Kenny Jacobs highlighted that the two main concerns raised by Fingal were regarding ground transportation and noise. The application outlines strategies for managing the increase in both passenger numbers and vehicle traffic, including enhanced bus services and the future integration of Metro services.
The DAA plans to submit a separate application to raise the passenger cap to 36m in the coming months, focusing on necessary infrastructure improvements. Mr Jacobs maintains that the current planning process needs to be more efficient to support the critical infrastructure necessary for Dublin Airport’s growth, citing the need to meet increasing travel demand for economic prosperity.
Fingal County Council says its Planning Authority will evaluate the submitted documentation based on national, regional, and local planning policies, including the Fingal Development Plan and the Dublin Airport Local Area Plan.
It says that if the new information from daa significantly alters the original submission dated last December, the Planning Authority may need to hold a public consultation on the application.
Following a request from daa, the deadline for the return of the information sought was extended in August to November.
The original Infrastructure Application lodged in December 2023 requested permission for significant infrastructure investments and sustainability improvements, aligning with national aviation policy and local development plans to meet rising air travel demand.
DAA’s response addresses 85 queries from FCC related to the technical complexities of the application, which totals about 7,000 pages and necessitated expert collaboration across various fields.
With Dublin Airport’s economic impact estimated at €9.6bn and its role as Ireland’s primary gateway, daa emphasized the need for holistic planning and strategic infrastructure development for future growth and connectivity.
Dubliln Airport CEO Kenny Jacobs previously stated on the passenger cap that “an operational application to Fingal County Council is an option but everybody will have to be in solution mode.”
Open skies was not written with passenger caps in mind, particularly passenger caps which favour domestic carriers over non-domestic.”
Last week the High Court granted a stay on a decision by the aviation regulator to cap the number of take-off and landing slots during summer 2025.
DAA Chief Commercial and Development Officer Vincent Harrison shared: “Dublin Airport fulfils a unique role as the main gateway to Ireland and the island’s only hub airport. This means Dublin can support a much higher level of connectivity by pooling both point-to-point and transfer traffic, which is crucially important to enable Ireland to compete with other European airports for routes and services.
The critical infrastructure and sustainability projects included in the application set Dublin Airport and Ireland up for the future. They ensure we grow as the population does, and that we can continue to meet current and future demand for travel which is so important to our economic prosperity.
“Some have questioned why daa did not simply apply to lift the passenger cap only. Separating the project would have led to accusations of not taking a holistic view of airport planning. Others have compared the process with general planning laws, which is an overly simplistic approach that ignores the complexities of the Irish planning system.
Today’s response to FCC involved months of work by national and international specialists including architects, planners, environmental specialists, engineers, sustainability experts, acoustic experts, aviation consultants and master planners. Many State agencies have also helped guide the final submission. I’d like to thank all those who contributed their time and expertise to this robust response.
“Dublin Airport is not just Ireland’s main gateway, its campus is comparable in scale to a large Irish town and supports over 20,000 jobs, as well as welcoming up to 120,000 passengers a day at peak periods. It is also responsible for the vast majority of high value airfreight nationally, with the strength of its overall economic impact estimated in the region of €9.6bn.
Approving infrastructure developments of this size and strategic nature.is highly complex and challenging and we appreciate FCC’s critical role in delivering on this. We hope that the process can now move swiftly and smoothly and welcome all efforts to promote more joined-up thinking in both the planning system and strategic infrastructure development so our island nation can thrive.”
DAA’s submission will be published by FCC on the Fingal Online Planning Portal in the coming days.
