DAA got 12,272 complaints from ONE person last year

ONE person lodged more than 12,000 complaints about the noise of aircraft traffic at Dublin Airport to the airport operator last year.

The person made 12,272 complaints – an average of 34 every day accounting for 90% of notices in 2021 – about the noise of planes taking off and landing, according to figures from airport operator, Dublin Airport Authority (DAA).

It is almost double the 6,227 complaints filed by the same individual in 2020 – even though the total number of aircraft movements at Dublin Airport last year had only increased by around 10% to almost 91,000 as air traffic continued to be affected by reduced international travel due to the pandemic, particularly in the first half of 2021.

The unidentified complainant, who is understood to be living in north-west Dublin, has been largely responsible for a dramatic increase in complaints that were filed with DAA since 2019.

Prior to that, the DAA was receiving around 1,500 noise complaints per annum, but last year it rose to 13,569.

However, the figure would have been just 1,296 if cases filed by the serial complainant were excluded.

As the number of flights returned to near pre-pandemic levels in 2022, the same individual has already filed a total of 5,276 complaints in the first three months of this year – a daily average of 59 cases – out of a total of 5,573 logged by DAA.

However, the number of unique individuals who lodged complaints with DAA last year was just 191 – up from 128 in 2020. The vast majority of complaints are filed by residents living near Dublin Airport and on several flight paths, particularly Portmarnock, Swords, The Ward and St Margaret’s.

A DAA spokesman declined to comment on the large volume of complaints filed by a single individual, but said airport operators are committed to working with local communities on issues such as aircraft noise.

The spokesman said DAA had introduced an online system called Webtrak which allows the public to access flight paths and noise levels from aircraft using the airport.

‘The system provides information on flight origin, destination, aircraft type, flight path and noise level registered on the airport’s noise monitoring terminals,’ he added.

DAA said the system also provided a simplified way for individuals to submit noise complaints.