Queues at Dublin Airport have become so long that passengers were forced to stand in line outside this morning while waiting to go through security.
The airport has previously said a lack of fully trained security staff is to blame for the chaos that has seen travellers miss flights and officials advise people to arrive at least three and a half hours before departure.
In a statement to Newstalk, Dublin Airport Authority said:
“With Dublin Airport prepared for an extremely busy Easter holiday period ahead, passengers were heeding our advice from very early this morning to arrive at the airport up to three and a half hours before their departure time.
“This resulted in us having to stagger the flow of passengers into the terminals which was well managed by Airport Police with assistance from An Garda Síochána.
“Queues for check-in, bag drop and security moved well this morning in advance of the first wave of departures with average queue time of around an hour before 06.00.
“Dublin Airport Authority thanks passengers for heeding its advice to arrive up to three and a half hours before their departure time.
“Adhering to this advice, without the need to arrive any earlier, will help passengers get through the security screening process as quickly as possible and avoid any unnecessary long waits before flights.”
We are currently filtering passengers into the terminal buildings in an orderly manner to join check in & security queues which are moving & we thank passengers for their cooperation & patience at this extremely busy time of the morning in advance of the first wave of departures.
— Dublin Airport (@DublinAirport) April 9, 2022
'Longer to get through the airport than we’d like'
Last week Graeme McQueen, the airport’s Media Relations Manager, told The Anton Savage Show that the renewed demand for travel caught the aviation industry by surprise.
“We’ve done some pretty robust assessments as to where we thought it was going to go and right now we’re about 15,000 passengers higher than where we thought we’d be,” he admitted.
“So we’re having to react to that. It’s taking longer to get through the airport than we’d like at peak time.
100 new staff members have been hired since the beginning of the year, while a further 250 were interviewed for roles at the airport this week alone.
Security staff from Cork Airport have also been temporarily reassigned to work in the capital to help Dublin Airport cope.
Main image: Planes are seen at Dublin Airport in April 2021. Picture by: Sasko Lazarov / RollingNews.ie
