IRISH PASSENGERS ARE facing longer queues at airports this summer due to new security checks following recent terror attacks.

New EU border controls implemented after the Paris and Brussels attacks mean details of Irish passengers must be run through new databases at passport control booths.

Before this European border officials only carried out visual passport checks on Irish passengers.

President of the Irish Travel Agents Association (ITAA) Cormac Meehan is advising all travellers to check with their airlines and ensure they factor longer queuing times into their travel plans.

New, stricter passport checks are resulting in longer queues at some European airports which are already extremely busy in this peak holiday season.

Speaking about the queues at home, Meehan said the passport queues at Dublin Airport are an example of the growth in the Irish travel sector.

The airport saw a record 27.9 million passengers pass through last year, up 11% on 2015. Passenger numbers reached 2.9 million in June, a 6% increase on the same month last year, making it the busiest June in the airport’s 77 year history.

Meehan said the ITAA has called for a meeting with the Department of Justice and Equality ”to get the issue of understaffing at Dublin Airport and other regional and national airports on to the national agenda, given the importance of the sector to the national economy”.

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