Some airports depending on where they are located, receive complaints due to noise levels, if not other reasons. Typically, the dissatisfactions are filed by several people throughout a calendar year, but this was not the case at an airport in Ireland last year.

Nearly 90% of all complaints at Dublin Airport due to noise last year were made by one person, according to The Irish Times. The individual’s filing came to a daily average of 64 incident reports to the airport’s operating company, DAA Group.

Almost 23,500 complaints in one year

The complainant’s behavior follows a trend of submitting numerous reports over the last four years. Since 2019, the person has been reporting claims of excessive noise from aircraft departing and arriving at Dublin Airport on a daily basis. Last year, the total number of complaints amounted to 23,431, according to The Irish Times.

In July 2022, the individual reportedly filed 2,616 complaints to the DAA about aircraft noise, averaging 84 claims per day. The complainant is believed to reside in Ongar, a northwest suburb of Dublin.

According to The Irish Times, figures published by DAA show that 26,196 complaints about noise from aircraft using Dublin Airport were recorded last year, up nearly 13,000, or about 93% from the previous year.

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. There have been more aircraft flying in and out of the airport following the easing of pandemic restrictions and the opening of the new runway on the north side in August.

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Is noise dissatisfaction on the rise?

Taking the reports from the serial complainant out of consideration, other members of the public still filed complaints last year, doubling the amount from 2021. The DAA reportedly received 1,296 complaints in 2021 compared to 2,765 in 2022. The number of individuals who complained about aircraft noise also jumped from the year prior. Over 600 people filed complaints last year compared to under 200 in 2021.

The figures also indicate that the new runway has been the cause of the spike in noise complaints. More than 900 cases were reported by 192 individuals in September, a month after it was opened. DAA reportedly confirmed recently that flights departing from the airport’s north runway would be rerouted after residential areas were unexpectedly overflown.

Simple Flying has contacted the DAA for comment but did not hear back.

Noise abatement procedures

Dublin Airport is one of many airports worldwide subject to noise complaints.

John Wayne Airport is one of the United States’ most noise-sensitive airports located in the center of Orange County, California. Surrounded by several residential communities, the airport maintains some of the most stringent noise rules in the US to mitigate potential noise impacts from aircraft operations.

Seven noise monitoring stations along the departure path track noise levels of departing aircraft to ensure they do not exceed noise thresholds, according to the City of Newport Beach.

The Federal Aviation Administration has provided general guidance for noise abatement departure procedures for the airport, which include:

• Close-In: A departure in which thrust is reduced, followed by a flap retraction. The procedure allows for a faster climb near the runway.
• Distant: Flaps are retracted first, followed by thrust reduction. Aircraft following this procedure are lower in the initial phase of takeoff but are higher in the distant portion of the departure.

Sources: The Irish Times, City of Newport Beach