Ms Catherine Gubbins:

Again, I want to acknowledge that it was a very unexpected development once the north runway went operational on 22 August. We started to engage with both the regulatory authorities and our neighbours immediately we became aware of this issue. To provide some context, the determination of a flight path off a new runway is an incredibly complex and highly regulated process. Back in 2016 we would have engaged with the various regulatory authorities when we were trying to do our modelling around understanding the potential impact of the new runway on our neighbours. At that point in time we would have had an understanding that the interpretation of the International Civil Aviation Organization, ICAO, safety direction would have resulted in aircraft having to fly one nautical mile after take-off and then banking right. All of our modelling, as we engaged with regulators at that time, was based on that.

Moving forward, six years later when the runway was about to become operational, the regulatory authorities at that point in time had to stand back and actually develop the flight path for the runway. That was not a process that we were necessarily involved in. Once it came to determining the relevant flight paths, changes were made to some of the criteria that were applied and in simple terms, this meant that aircraft had to reach a certain height rather than travel a specified distance before they could turn right. That is what gave rise to the deviation in the flight path that materialised at the time. It was a surprise to us and we began our engagement with the regulatory authorities immediately. As I said, this is a complex and highly regulated process and unfortunately, it has required a significant amount of engagement with the Air Navigation Service Provider, ANSP, the Safety Regulation Division, SRD, and the Irish Aviation Authority, IAA. A lot of work needs to happen to make sure that the ultimate flight path is promulgated and uploaded to the various aircraft and pilots who use the airport. It is a very complex and time-consuming process, unfortunately. We started that process immediately and it has been ongoing. We have been intensively engaged with all of the relevant authorities to try to get this resolved as quickly as possibly. Thankfully, we are now in a position to communicate to our neighbours that on 23 February the flight path should revert to something that is more closely aligned with what we would have originally modelled.