SOME PASSENGERS HAD to queue outside to get into the terminals of Dublin Airport in the early hours of this morning as people heeded the advice to arrive hours in advance of their flights.
Footage and images shared by passengers online show winding queues to get into the airport in the hours before 6am, before reaching further queues for check-in, bag drop and security.
A Dublin Airport Authority (daa) spokesperson said people queued outside the terminals for a maximum of 15-20 minutes in the early hours.
Airport workers had to “stagger the flow of passengers into the terminals” this morning as people arrived several hours ahead of their flights, a statement from the daa said.
“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,” the statement said.
“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.”
The statement said queues for check-in, bag drop and security “moved well” this morning ahead of the first departures from the airport. The average queue time was around an hour before 6am this morning, the daa said.
The authority said it “continues to refine and adapt its security screening operation” ahead of the expected busy Easter period at the airport.
Earlier this week the airport outlined its plan to deal with security delays during the Easter break including redeploying staff from Cork Airport.
The shortage of security screening staff remains the main issue behind the queues experienced in recent weeks, the daa said.
“While there have been no constraints on recruitment – more than 100 new security staff have already been recruited so far this year – daa is re-doubling its efforts to more staff,” the authority said.
The daa said: “Bringing recruits into the operation had been delayed recently by the requirement for enhanced background checks for aviation workers which came into effect on January 1 this year. Thankfully, however, this logjam is now easing.”
Social Democrats TD Cian O’Callaghan said he was contacted recently by Dublin Airport staff who said “they are still waiting for full-time contracts”.
He claimed the staff told him that many security team members would “love to be working on full-time contracts” but are “on these rosters with reduced hours”.
CEO of the daa Dalton Philips recently told RTÉ radio’s News at One that security staff contracts are for a minimum of 20 hours per week. Staff are paid €14.14 per hour.
“All our staff at the moment, we would be asking them to do as many hours as they possibly can for obvious reasons,” Philips said.
He said hours are generally not guaranteed in the industry due to variability between seasons and on different days of the week.
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