As a result of personnel shortages, those who need to park their cars before checking in have been advised to come even earlier than usual.
Customers are urged to arrive three and a half hours before their flights at Dublin Airport, according to the airport. Queuing concerns that had plagued travelers in recent days were alleviated last weekend, according to the airport.
“Allow an additional 30 minutes if you are parking a vehicle,” the airport advises.
For short-haul flights during peak periods, such as the early morning rush hour period, weekends, or during the Easter holidays, travelers should plan on arriving up to four hours before their flight’s departure time.
“The situation in terms of security timings in both terminals at Dublin Airport has much improved over the weekend,” Graeme McQueen, Media Relations Manager at the Dublin Airport Authority, told the Independent.
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In spite of the fact that passenger numbers were higher than they were the previous weekend, the time it took passengers to clear security was manageable, with a maximum wait time of roughly 45 minutes in T1 on both Saturday and Sunday, and a maximum wait time of around 35 minutes in T2.
According to the airport, the implementation of a staff taskforce “has resulted in all DAA employees taking on shifts in customer-facing jobs throughout the terminals,” which has been beneficial.
Employees are fulfilling jobs such as queue management, providing general customer service advise to customers, replacing tray replacements at security, and many more as a result of this all-hands-to-pump method.
In addition, the company adds that it has restored live security timings to its dublinairport.com website, and that an update to the airport’s mobile app will be released later this week.
After experiencing lengthy security delays in both terminals due to a shortage of security personnel, Covid-related absences, and a rebound in travel that has exceeded DAA expectations by 30 percent, or 15,000 passengers per day, according to CEO Dalton Philips, the move comes as a welcome relief for passengers.
Insights into travel
As a consequence, several passengers have reported missing flights as a result of the long lines that have formed in certain instances. In addition, the airport has temporarily discontinued its Fast Track system, citing “very high” demand for parking lots that are “expected to sell out” on certain days.
Mr Philips has referred to it as “a perfect storm.”
Staff members have been working under challenging circumstances. According to The Sunday Independent, one passenger spit in the face of a member of the security team, prompting him to be detained.
Many companies are facing recruiting difficulties and Covid-related shortages, while UK airports such as Heathrow and Manchester faced similar delays last weekend, while easyJet was forced to postpone more than 200 flights due to labour shortages, according to the company’s website.
However, Dublin Airport’s contracts – which only guarantee a 20-hour workweek and a €283 wage for new security hires – have also been cited as a contributing factor, as has the airport’s failure to predict passenger numbers when it had clear sight of the recently introduced summer schedules, which were introduced in April.
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Previously, customers were advised to arrive at Dublin Airport two hours before short-haul flights and three hours before long-haul flights, according to airport policy.
Air traffic is expected to increase, and the Easter vacation period is approaching, so the airport will get even more crowded. The Easter holiday is predicted to have its “peak day” on April 16, according to forecasts.
Ryanair has started rolling out what it claims is the greatest summer schedule in the company’s history for Dublin this year, while Aer Lingus is expanding its transatlantic lines to accommodate the increased demand. Flights to Philadelphia, for example, will resume on Thursday, with a second route to Chicago departing on April 8 beginning the next week.
McQueen emphasizes the importance of travellers using Dublin Airport continuing to observe the airport’s recommendation to be at the airport at least 3.5 hours earlier to their scheduled departure time.
Ryanair has also recommended travellers to be at the airport 3.5 hours before their flights, and the airline has called on the government to draft in 250 army officers to assist with the delays caused by security screening.
According to the Department of Transportation, a daily crisis management meeting has been created to address the situation.
For its part, the DAA has implemented a number of additional measures in an attempt to alleviate the situation, including stepping up a recruitment drive to add approximately 300 security personnel to its existing team of 600, increasing overtime hours, and redeploying staff to assist with queue management and customer service.
Over 200 interviews with potential applicants will be conducted by the company this week, and the company claims it will add additional employees to the frontline “as quickly as feasible.”
Vetting and training, on the other hand, normally take five to six weeks.
In light of the rebounding demand for travel and the further relaxation of Covid-related travel restrictions, the airport currently anticipates that passenger numbers in the summer “will be about 90% of 2019 levels.”
That year had been a record year before to the pandemic, with 33 million travelers passing through.
