Ryanair has criticized an enforcement order that will limit the number of overnight flights to and from Dublin Airport (DUB), describing the move as a “stupid decision.”

Local authority Fingal County Council has ruled that the airport has breached planning conditions for its new north runway, which opened in August 2022. The permission stipulates that the average number of night flights between 11 p.m. and 7 a.m. should not exceed 65.

However, in a letter dated July 27, the council said the airport’s summer schedule was in breach of limits and has given airport operator Daa six weeks to comply with an enforcement notice. The notice said the action has been taken to protect “residential amenity” of the local area.

In response, Daa said the cap on the number of night flights was “no longer a fit-for-purpose way” of determining how many flights should operate at night. Instead, the company recommended that “a more appropriate noise quota” should be introduced.

In a statement, Ryanair called on Ireland’s Transport Minister Eamon Ryan to reverse the “idiotic” decision, arguing that the nighttime restriction period should be moved to between midnight and 6 a.m. The ULCC said this would avoid disruption to the vast majority of first-wave flights that depart DUB between 6 a.m. and 7 a.m.

Ryanair also claimed the nighttime restrictions are no longer necessary when new aircraft operated by it and Aer Lingus are 50% quieter, reducing noise emissions.

“This sensible solution balances the needs of Irish air travel and its connectivity to Europe with the complaints of the tiny number of neighbours of Dublin Airport complaining about the airport’s ever-reducing noise envelope,” Ryanair CEO Eddie Wilson said. He added that if the transport minister fails to intervene, he should resign.

On Aug. 2, Daa CEO Kenny Jacobs said enforcement action would result in DUB having fewer aircraft movements between 11 p.m. and 7 a.m. on two runways than if it had on one. He called on Fingal County Council to suspend its “overly onerous conditions” or give at least the six months that the council has acknowledged is available under its planning laws. 

“It is a sad indictment of the Irish planning system that this issue has been ongoing for the past seven years, since before construction work on north runway began,” Jacobs said.

DUB, which enjoyed its busiest day on record during July, becomes the latest European airport under scrutiny for noise emissions. The Dutch government wants to cap the number of flights at Amsterdam Schiphol Airport to 460,000 per year, down from 500,000, while Brussels Zaventem Airport is the subject of a proposed ban on night flights.

In July, London City Airport was also denied permission to increase its passenger cap and extend its opening hours amid “continued concerns over the noise and environmental impact of the airport on those living nearby.”