An expected 410,000 passengers will use Dublin Airport over the bank holiday weekend, making July the busiest month at the airport for three years, with passenger numbers rising above three million.
Airport operator Daa said the airport was building on “a strong performance during June” with security queuing times during the month down to 45 minutes for 95 per cent of passengers. It also said the percentage of passengers who queued for 30 minutes or less was even better, at 85 per cent during in July.
However, Daa acknowledged that its queuing times do not count the amount of time passengers queue outside the terminals. It has also declined to alter the advice to passengers that they should arrive up to 3.5 hours in advance of their flight. The earlier arrival advice was introduced after lengthy security queues at the airport in late May saw over 1,000 customers miss their flights.
Daa said: “In Terminal 1, the queue time shown covers the security queue within the departures floor. However, if the queue goes outside of the terminal, this queue time is not captured”.
In relation to Terminal 2, it said: “the queue time shown is measured from the top of the escalators on the level 2, i.e. it covers queuing across that area. However, if the queue goes beyond this point, that part of the queue time is not captured”.
Responding to questions about passengers arriving too early and adding to the queues, potentially blocking those who were arriving for more closely timed flights, the Daa said it would not change that advice until “the time is right”.
“Passenger advice remains under constant review and Daa looks forward to reducing the advised arrival times when the time is right” media relations manager Graeme McQueen said.
Aer Lingus chief executive Lynne Embleton had suggested altering the advice when she addressed the Oireachtas Committee on Transport earlier this week. Ms Embleton said people were turning up early for flights later in the day and competing with passengers who were dropping off luggage for early morning departures.
Referring to passenger experience at the airport, including cleanliness of facilities Mr McQueen said “recent changes implemented and contingency mechanisms put in place are ensuring continued improvement in the experience of passengers at Dublin Airport. ”
He said the improved performance was the result of “a continued bolstering of the security screening operation at Dublin Airport, with a concerted and ongoing recruitment drive meaning that staffing levels are now back around 2019 levels”.
“The recruitment of more than 150 security officers since the beginning of June means that since October 2021 we have almost doubled our security team at Dublin Airport through the hiring of more than 350 officers. The recruitment of additional staff will continue over the weeks and months ahead,” he said.
“We have also increased the level of resources being assigned to cleaning duties in the terminals which is having a positive impact on the passenger experience. In recent days, a series of deep-cleans have been carried out at night as well as other targeted actions across the terminals. We are working with our third-party cleaning partners to see that resources are increased further, which we are confident will result in continued improvements for passengers over the coming weeks” he said.
Meanwhile dissatisfied Aer Lingus passengers who have had lost baggage for up to a month have complained that many of them have still not been able to speaks to anyone at the airline about the issue. A Facebook page titled Aer Lingus Complaints Action Group” has attracted more than 4,800 members.
In a statement Aer Lingus said it understands the “concern and frustrations felt by our customers whose baggage has been delayed and the impact this has had on their travel plans”. It said it was working closely with relevant third party handling agents to retrieve delayed or misdirected baggage as quickly and efficiently as possible.
If a bag is missing for more than 21 days customers are advised to contact their insurance provider. If a customer does not hold personal travel insurance, a claim can be submitted to the airline via aerlingus.com.
