LAST UPDATE | 21 Sep

PEOPLE HEADING TO Dublin Airport today should expect delays if they are checking in or dropping off checked luggage, the airport’s authority has advised. 

Aer Lingus has warned that some flights are expected to be cancelled today, as they were yesterday, due to a technical issue that affected European airports yesterday.  

Aer Lingus said the issue has meant operations are “significantly impacted” again today. 

“We are communicating with impacted customers and are advising passengers to check their SMS and our website for the latest updates,” the airline said. 

In an update at noon, the airport said: “The Dublin Airport team is supporting airlines today as they manage ongoing disruption from a Europe-wide technical issue affecting check-in and boarding systems.”

As of midday, 13 flights were reported by the airport as having been cancelled – 9 inbound and 4 outbound.

The advice from Dublin Airport has been issued following disruption in airports across Europe yesterday due to a technical issue with baggage and check-in systems, which some have reported as a possible cyber attack.

Graeme McQueen, spokesperson for the airport’s operator, said despite hopes for a fix to the ongoing issue soon, there were “no guarantees at this stage”.

It also comes the day after Dublin Airport’s Terminal 2 was evacuated as a precaution when a suspicious piece of luggage was found but later declared safe by the army’s bomb disposal unit.  

“Some airlines in Terminal 2 are continuing to use manual workarounds to generate bag tags and boarding passes,” a spokesperson for Dublin Airport said this morning.  

“This means that the check-in and bag drop processes may take slightly longer than normal.” 

The spokesperson said the airport is expecting to operate a full schedule today but added that “passengers are advised to contact their airline directly for updates on their flight”.

Photos taken by The Journal in Terminal 2 this morning show long queues of people waiting to check in or drop off bags.  

Our reporter there described hectic scenes in the terminal as airline staff struggled with the queues of people waiting to check in.

The delays and cancellations are affecting Aer Lingus customers outside of Ireland as well.

Lorna Langan told The Journal that she and her flight was cancelled last night from the Turkish city of Izmir to Dublin.

“Aer lingus put us in a hotel for the night and we had to check out at 12 today,” she said in an email.

“They have rescheduled us all on different flights throughout the week and into next week but we are not sure what we are supposed to do between now and then.

She said there has been “no other contact” from the airline and that attempts to reach a “real person” at Aer Lingus have been unsuccessful, “only bots”.

She said families had been left stranded with kids “and some still don’t know when they are to fly home”.