There were long queues outside Terminal 1 at Dublin Airport this afternoon, but Dublin Airport Authority (DAA) says 98 passengers arrive through security in less than 45 minutes.
harmaine Quinn, of Blessington, Co Wicklow, said she would not fly from the airport again until the chaos subsided as she waited two and a half hours to get through security today.
She arrived at 15:00 for her flight to Liverpool and only got through at 17:30.
“I will not fly again until the chaos at the airport has been sorted out, this is no joke,” she said.
“It seems that the airport only determines this in time as soon as you reach area seven inside, disregarding the time spent queuing in the car park outside the airport.”
At 15:00 today, the queue started on the top floor of the Terminal 1 car park and went all the way outside the terminal building.
The individual queues for the airline’s check-in counters and baggage claim did not extend to the outside of the terminal building, but passengers who did unload their suitcases were led outside to join this security queue.
Queues were significantly shorter in Terminal 2 with no passengers waiting beyond directly outside the security gates.
Mia Magee of Dunboyne, Co Meath, was traveling with her friends to Santa Ponsa, Spain, today for their post-Leaving Cert vacation.
They were outside in the security queue for half an hour at 15:20 and still did not enter the building of Terminal 1.
The Indo Daily: Dublin Airport – Flight chaos will last all summer. What is going wrong and what are your rights?
“We’ve been queuing for a long time. We had to queue at the parking lot and then it goes straight,” she said.
“We first had to go down to the roof, then over the bridge and then outside the building.
“We do not unload bags so we have been here for half an hour which is not that long, but we are not even inside the airport yet.”
By 16:00, the security queue outside Terminal 1 had significantly decreased with no stationary queues outside the building.
A DAA spokesman said he had no reports that it would take up to two and a half hours for passengers to get through security and that the majority would get through in less than 45 minutes.
“There were some moderate delays this afternoon, but the processing was generally smooth today,” they said.
“Some queues outside the building did take place for a short time, as it can at the moment during busy times, but processing times at security remained below 60 minutes in both terminals. Security investigation times are currently below 45 minutes in both T1 and T2. ”
The advice remains the same – passengers must arrive two and a half hours before a short-haul flight and three and a half hours before a long-haul flight.
Those who book luggage must add an extra hour to this.
Ryanair and Aer Lingus both open their check-in counters at 3am, with Aer Lingus allowing people to load their luggage the night before their flight.
This is because Aer Lingus was forced to cancel more flights from Dublin Airport today.
As staff shortages due to Covid-19 absences continue to plague the airline, five more flights have been canceled, affecting travel to London Heathrow, Berlin and Hamburg.
According to the Dublin Airport website, the London flights were scheduled for 07:30, 15:55 and 20:15, while the Hamburg flight would depart at 07:00 and the Berlin flight at 17:55.
Arrivals to Dublin Airport were also affected, with four incoming flights canceled. These flights would depart from London Heathrow (11:20 and 19:35), Hamburg (11:50 am) and Berlin (11:15 pm).
Aer Lingus had to cancel 12 more flights yesterday due to a rise in Covid cases.
This came after three return flights were canceled the previous day due to the virus, while Covid and strikers were blamed for 13 cancellations over the weekend.