Dublin Airport noise: flight paths, runways and night flights

Two parallel runways and a crosswind runway

Dublin has two parallel runways running east to west: the South Runway (10R/28L), long the airport's main runway, and the North Runway (10L/28R), 3,110 m long and 1.69 km further north, which opened on 24 August 2022. A third, the Crosswind Runway (16/34), is used only occasionally, when strong northerly or southerly winds make it safer; it handled about two flights in a thousand in our recordings.

Planes land and take off into the wind, so the traffic runs one way or the other. When the wind is from the west, planes land towards the west, coming in from the sea over Howth, and take off towards County Meath. That was the main direction on 62% of days over the last year. When the wind is from the east, it all turns round: planes land over Dunboyne and The Ward and take off out over Portmarnock and the sea. That happened on 18% of days, and on the other 20% the direction changed during the day. daa, which runs the airport, says the wind is westerly 70% to 80% of the time.

Easterly days come in spells. In our recordings December had the most, close to half of all days, followed by April with more than a third.

Which runway, by day and at night

The rules for sharing the two runways come from the North Runway's 2007 planning permission. On westerly days, landings should use the South Runway and take-offs can use either. On easterly days, landings should use the North Runway, and the South Runway is preferred for take-offs. The South Runway is open 24 hours; the North Runway is closed from 23:00 to 07:00, except for safety, maintenance, bad weather and similar reasons.

Our recordings follow that pattern. On westerly days 88% of landings were on the South Runway and 12% on the North Runway. On easterly days 86% were on the North Runway, and the South Runway took the rest, including the landings at night. So on easterly days, homes under the western approach to the South Runway, around Dubber, hear few landings by day but get them at night, when the North Runway is closed.

Where landing planes fly

Landing planes line up well out from the airport and descend on a straight line, so the same streets hear them at the same height every time.

Landing from the east (westerly days), planes cross the coast over Howth. On the line to the South Runway they are typically about 2,100 ft over Howth, 1,750 ft over Sutton, 1,400 ft over Baldoyle, 1,050 ft over Portmarnock, 700 ft over Kinsealy and 350 ft over Balgriffin. Landings on the North Runway follow a parallel line about 1.7 km further north, over Portmarnock and Kinsealy, at much the same heights.

Landing from the west (easterly days), planes come in over County Meath. On the North Runway line they are about 2,100 ft over Dunboyne, 12 km out, and 700 to 1,050 ft over The Ward, 4 to 6 km out. The South Runway line runs parallel to the south, over Dunboyne, The Ward and Dubber; this is the one used at night.

Where take-offs go

Take-offs climb much faster than landings descend. Each runway has a noise preferential route that departing jets follow until they reach 3,000 ft (4,000 ft from the North Runway), after which air traffic control can turn them towards their destination.

On westerly days, most take-offs (85%) head north-west, passing over south Meath towards Ashbourne at about 3,750 ft, 8 km along their route. On easterly days, nearly all go straight out to the east over Portmarnock and Baldoyle, at about 3,100 ft 8 km out, and on over the sea.

When the North Runway opened in 2022, some communities were overflown by take-offs they had not been told to expect, and daa apologised. Revised departure procedures, meant to bring the tracks closer to what daa had previously described, took effect on 23 February 2023.

Night flights and the planning dispute

Dublin's night rules were in dispute even before the North Runway opened. Its 2007 permission kept the North Runway closed from 23:00 to 07:00 and, once the runway was built, limited the airport to an average of 65 flights a night between 23:00 and 07:00, measured over a 92-day summer period. daa applied in December 2020 to change both. Fingal County Council approved the application with changes in August 2022, and on appeal An Coimisiún Pleanála granted permission on 16 July 2025 with these conditions:

• an annual noise quota of 16,260 points between 23:00 and 07:00, with each flight counted by its noise rating;
• a cap of 35,672 flights a year between 23:00 and 07:00, about 98 a night;
• the North Runway closed from 00:00 to 06:00 instead of 23:00 to 07:00, so it could be used in the first and last hour of the night;
• a ban on the noisiest aircraft at night;
• a new grant scheme to insulate bedrooms in the homes most exposed to night noise.

These rules have not taken effect. On 10 February 2026 the European Commission found that the process had not fully followed EU Regulation 598/2014, under which limits on flights should come only after other ways of reducing noise have been considered. An Coimisiún Pleanála said it would consider whether to reopen the case, and three judicial reviews of the decision have been adjourned. Fingal County Council's July 2023 enforcement notice on the 65-flight limit has been stayed by the High Court pending daa's legal challenge to it. For now, the North Runway stays closed from 23:00 to 07:00.

In our recordings, 93 planes landed or took off between 23:00 and 07:00 on an average night, and 131 on the busiest, well above the original 65. Summer nights are busier, at over 100. There is no real quiet period: flights thin out to about two an hour between 02:00 and 04:00, and the longest break on a typical night is about an hour. From 04:00 traffic picks up again, reaching about 30 flights an hour between 06:00 and 07:00.

Busy days and quiet days

daa says Dublin handled 255,000 flights in 2025, 5% more than in 2024, about 700 a day. Our figure of about 730 is a little higher, partly because traffic has grown since. Summer is much busier than winter: we recorded about 800 flights a day from June to August against about 650 in January and February. Thursdays and Fridays are the busiest days.

The passenger cap and expansion plans

Planning conditions from 2007 limit Dublin Airport to 32 million passengers a year. It carried 36.4 million in 2025. Fingal County Council served an enforcement notice on daa over the cap in June 2025, giving it two years to comply, while related questions are before the courts.

The Dublin Airport (Passenger Capacity) Act 2026 was signed into law in July 2026. It lets the Minister for Transport change or remove the cap by order, once An Coimisiún Pleanála has carried out environmental assessments. Separately, daa has applied to Fingal County Council to raise the limit to 40 million and add new piers, aircraft stands and a transport hub. The Aircraft Noise Competent Authority (ANCA), part of Fingal County Council, found that the plan would lead to a noise problem and proposed a wider noise insulation scheme; its draft decision was open for comments from 28 May to 3 September 2026. ANCA's final decision, and then the planning decision, follow that consultation.

Complaints, insulation and help

To complain, contact daa within seven days of the flight: through WebTrak or daa's online form (both need an account), by Freephone 1800 200 034, or by post. Each complaint is logged and investigated, and daa may ask the air navigation service or the airline for details. Its complaints dashboard shows how many it receives and from where.

To check a flight, WebTrak shows recent flights with their heights, and daa's Noise Information Portal shows how often planes pass over your area and how high. Our free flight map replays a whole day.

For help with insulation, daa runs:

• Residential Noise Insulation Scheme: whole-home insulation, including windows, ventilation and attic insulation, paid for by daa, for homes inside the 63 dB LAeq,16h contour. daa puts the average cost at about €100,000 a home. A separate Home Sound Insulation Programme was launched in 2017 for homes inside the 2016 version of that contour.
• Residential Sound Insulation Grant Scheme (proposed): grants of up to €30,000 to insulate bedrooms in homes above 55 dB Lnight. It is part of the July 2025 decision and awaits final approval.
• Voluntary Dwelling Purchase Scheme: for homes inside the 69 dB LAeq,16h contour, and some more that daa has added, daa will buy the house at 30% above its market value and cover legal fees, stamp duty and moving costs, typically about €14,500. Its online property eligibility checker shows which homes qualify, and eligibility is reviewed every two years.
• Schools Insulation Scheme: insulation for schools and pre-schools inside the 60 dB LAeq,16h contour.

To see what these schemes usually cover elsewhere, read our guide to airport noise insulation schemes.