Single person files over 23,000 complaints about Dublin Airport

One single person was so fed up about aircraft noise at Dublin Airport they filed 23,000 complaints in 2022 alone, it has been reported.

The serial complainant, believed to live near the Irish travel hub, was responsible for almost 90 per cent of the total number of complaints – filing a daily average of 64 incident reports, according to the Irish Times.

The person has been lodging claims of excessive noise from aircraft taking off and landing at Dublin Airport on an almost daily basis since 2019.

In 2020 they lodged 6227 complaints, then in 2021 they filed 12,273 and last year a whopping 23,431.

The complainant is believed to live in Ongar, northwest Dublin.

DAA, previously the Dublin Airport Authority, publishes monthly noise complaints on its website.

Recent figures show a total of 26,196 complaints about noise from aircraft using Dublin Airport were recorded last year – up 93 per cent (almost 13,000) on the previous year, the Irish Times reported.

Since figures are slightly skewed due to the majority of complaints being made by one person, the numbers still indicate an increase in complaints by residents overall.

The complaints have been linked to a combination of an overall increase in aircraft movements following the easing of restrictions around the Covid-19 pandemic and the opening of a new $558 million runway in late August, with more than 900 cases reported by 192 individuals in September.

The exact number of complaints relating to planes using the north runway is unclear, as separate figures have still to be collated by DAA.

Meanwhile, a terminal that monitors departing flights from the main runway found there were 160 incidents in the first half of 2021 when planes reached 80 decibels – equivalent to the noise of a busy city street.

In April 2021, DAA introduced an online system called Webtrak to give the public details on flight paths and noise levels from aircraft using the airport, according to Yahoo News UK.

It also allows people to submit noise complaints.

A DDA spokesman told the publication: “Dublin Airport is committed to working with the communities around the airport. This includes reducing aircraft noise on neighbouring communities, which is the joint responsibility of Dublin Airport, the Irish Aviation Authority and the airlines that use the airport.”

According to the Irish Times, the airport operator confirmed earlier this year that flights departing from the new north runway would be rerouted after residential areas were “unexpectedly overflown”.