Air, Freight News


FTA Ireland welcomes Dublin Airport ruling

[ March 10, 2026   //   ]

FTA Ireland has welcomed the European Commission’s decision of 10 February which confirmed that the process used by the An Coimisiún Pleanála (ACP) planning authority to introduce a night‑time aircraft movement cap at Dublin Airport was illegal.

It said the ruling substantiates long‑standing concerns about the disproportionate impact of a cap on Ireland’s international trade, and supply‑chain resilience.

FTA Ireland chief executive Niall Cotton said: “The Commission has confirmed that the Balanced Approach was not followed. ACP imposed a restrictive night‑time movement cap without properly assessing less restrictive alternatives. This confirms what FTA Ireland has repeatedly said: the cap was unnecessary, unjustified, and damaging to trade‑critical operations.”

The European Commission concluded that Ireland failed to evaluate less restrictive options before applying an operating restriction, in breach of Article 5(3) of Regulation 598/2014.

It introduced a fixed annual night‑time cap of 35,672 movements without first assessing whether measures from could meet the noise abatement objective.

The decision must now be re‑examined, and the Commission notified before any further steps are taken.

The ruling also confirms that the night‑time cap was layered on top of an already approved Noise Quota System (NQS), making the restriction “more restrictive than necessary.”

FTAI had warned that the night-time cap threatens the functioning of Ireland’s high value, time critical supply chains. Currently, cargo flights, though comprising under 15% of nighttime movements, support €1.1 billion in GDP, 15,000 jobs, and €19 billion in trade annually. Much of the cargo moving through Dublin overnight are time-sensitive, including perishable produce, pharmaceuticals and medical devices and critical manufacturing components.

FTA Ireland is urging Government to fully re‑examine the ACP decision in line with the Commission’s findings and provide explicit legislative protection for night‑time cargo operations due to their strategic national importance.

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