Dublin Airport has been named one of the most efficient airports in Europe following a recent survey.

The airport came fourth in performance behind Bergamo in Italy, Gran Canaria in Spain and Bucharest in Romania.

The survey of flight cancellations and delays at Europe’s major airports was conducted between July 1st and July 10th by Hopper, a mobile-only travel-booking platform.

In that time period, some 15% of flights from Dublin were delayed, while 1.6% were cancelled.

The lowest scoring airports on time performance, according to the survey, were Brussels, Frankfurt and Eindhoven, with 72%, 68% and 67% of flights delayed respectively.

Cancelled flights

Earlier this month, amid surging numbers of COVID cases nationwide, numerous Aer Lingus staff called in sick and the airline was unable to run many flights as a result. 

Padraig Ó Ceidigh, the founder of Aer Lingus Regional, has predicted that the issue may persist until the end of the year.

Outdoor marquees

Dublin airport installed outdoor marquees for when terminals get “particularly busy”, with passengers who arrive too early ‘triaged’ away from the terminal and into the holding area.

Passengers were advised to arrive two-and-a-half hours before short-haul flights and three-and-a-half hours for long-haul flights.

Those checking in bags were advised to add an extra hour for bag drop or check-in.

Speaking on Newstalk in May, Labour TD Duncan Smith described the airport at the time as “absolute chaos”.

“I’ve had reports myself in this morning from friends and constituents who are travelling; one friend was on a plane that was able to wait to allow people to get onto the plane.”

“Others had contacted me saying they had missed their plane altogether. So it’s an absolute catastrophe.” 

Main image shows planes outside Dublin Airport.