Dublin Airport (DUB) operator Daa has secured a temporary High Court stay on a decision that could significantly impact nighttime flights to and from the airport.

Judge Conor Dignam also granted Daa permission to challenge Fingal County Council’s enforcement notice, which accuses the airport operator of breaching planning permission terms related to the new North Runway, which opened in August 2022.

The notice was issued in late July after complaints about excessive noise from residents and gave Daa six weeks to comply. It claimed the airport’s summer schedule exceeds the permitted number of night flights between 11 p.m. and 7 a.m., which is set at a daily average of 65 over a 92-day period.

Daa contends that the enforcement notice is flawed and is seeking its nullification.

Judge Dignam has granted a stay on the notice coming into effect and given Daa permission to apply for a judicial review against the council’s demand that it limit night flights. However, Fingal County Council could seek to amend or remove the stay with 48 hours’ notice.

Daa claimed that if the stay were not granted, the operator could potentially face canceling thousands of flights between now and mid-September, causing disruption to more than 700,000 passengers.

Following the Aug. 8 verdict, Daa CEO Kenny Jacobs said: “While today’s decision does not solve the underlying planning issues, it is a pragmatic decision while we focus on maintaining vital international air connectivity and protecting Irish jobs supported by Dublin Airport as a vital economic enabler for the country.”

Daa is proposing to use the North Runway from 6 a.m. to midnight—rather than 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. as set out in the current planning conditions—and introduce a noise quota count system rather than a flight movement number cap.

Fingal County Council, which was not represented at the court hearing, said it would review the decision of the court and the grounds put forward by Daa once it has received them.