Flight chaos at Dublin Airport caused more than 1,000 passengers to miss their flights on Sunday and Monday.
Passengers flying from Dublin Airport had to deal with long lines to get into terminal buildings due to staff shortages, together with a high post-pandemic demand.
On Sunday, May 29, the airport’s Twitter account tweeted: “Due to significant queues inside the terminal for check-in, bag drop and security, passengers queueing outside the terminal may not make their flight and may need to contact their airline to rebook. We sincerely apologize for the obvious frustration and inconvenience this may cause.”
Following the struggles over the past weekend, Dublin Airport Authority (DDA) was summoned to report to the Irish government. Hildegarde Naughton, Minister of State for International Transport, met with the airport’s authority to monitor the situation.
The DDA said that it has added more security lanes and officers to solve congestions issues. It also added that it will compensate all passengers who missed flights due to poor management.
Speaking with RTE’s Morning Ireland, DAA’s interim head of communications Kevin Cullinane said that they are doing their best to ensure every passenger gets on a flight this weekend.
We’re doing our level best to make sure that everyone makes their flights this weekend.
Kevin Cullinane, DAA’s interim head of communications
However, the chaos at Dublin Airport continued on Monday, with queues that started getting long in the early hours of the morning. A passenger filmed the long lines for security checks at 3.40 am and shared a video on his twitter profile. “Queues thick with people growing in depth too. Management well aware for months – worse it’s getting,” tweeted the passenger.
Minister of Transport Eamon Ryan and Minister of State Hildegarde Naughton have expressed deep unhappiness with the reports of excessively long queues and wait times at Dublin Airport. They added that the passenger experience at Dublin Airport is falling far short of the service that Irish citizens and visitors should expect at the State’s largest airport. They said that it was not satisfactory that some people, who are following DAA’s guidelines, are turning up to the airport for check-in on time, but are still missing their flights. The situation is causing undue stress and potential cost to people, they added.
A meeting between Minister Hildegarde Naughton and the DAA Chief Executive to get clarity as to the reasons behind the unacceptable events is scheduled for this morning.
