Dublin Airport has been doing it a little tough lately with staffing issues causing huge queues throughout the terminals. People have missed flights and are generally unhappy. The upcoming Easter period is concerning quite a few people due to fly.
All of this is because the airport is having trouble getting new staff into play. New EU rules around employee vetting started on 1 January, which has delayed that process. The knock on effect is new hires have taken longer to start their new roles.
Dublin Airport Responses
The airlines and airport have responded with various measures to try to ameliorate the issues. Ryanair have advised passengers to arrive at least three and a half hours before departure and extended their desk opening hours accordingly.
📍UPDATE: Long security delays @DublinAirport due to DAA staff shortages: pic.twitter.com/Yv6orU5Vby
— Ryanair (@Ryanair) March 28, 2022
Aer Lingus have reinstated their evening before check-in service. Those with departures from 05:30 to 08:00 are able to check-in their baggage the night before between 16:00 and 19:45. I used this service in 2017 with Ryanair and quite like it. Not sure if they still do it though!
🆕 Night-before check-in now here to save you time in the morning!
⏰ Flying from Dublin between 05:30 and 08:00?
🧳 From today you can check in and drop off your bags at the airport between 16:00 and 19:45 the evening before you fly ✈️
Don't forget to bring passports! ☘️
— Aer Lingus (@AerLingus) March 28, 2022
Finally, Dublin Airport is also helping… by removing Fast Track security from sale. Anyone with an existing booking will still have it honoured. Those eligible to use it via airline status or by flying business class will also still be able to use the service.
Update: Dublin Airport has paused the sale of new Fast Track passes for the time being. All existing bookings remain valid and will be honoured. This move is one of a number of measures being taken to improve the security screening process for all passengers.
— Dublin Airport (@DublinAirport) March 29, 2022
Seems like too many people were purchasing it to try to avoid the scrum and perhaps there are too many vouchers out there now. Anyway, I’m sure it will help some.
Overall Thoughts
Passing through Dublin Airport is usually a pretty seamless experience. They usually do a fantastic job of keeping things flowing and as a regular user of Fast Track I’m normally through security in under five minutes.
This blip is temporary, but I can’t help but worry as I’m due to fly out just before Easter. Missing the flight would be a nightmare of epic proportions, so I’ll be doing my best to avoid that.
Have you experienced the huge queues at Dublin Airport lately? Thank you for reading and if you have any comments or questions, please leave them below.
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Featured image via RTÉ.
Did Terminal 2 yesterday morning at it was about 15 minutes and that was all past the doors. Nothing like the lines shown in the picture.
Yes, it depends on when you go. I read a tweet from someone saying they had arrived 3.5 hours early for Ryanair and were straight through. Depends on the day you go through too, as Tuesday and Wednesday are typically the quietest days for air travel. Hey, the more it’s not like the picture the better really! Glad you were okay.
This was our first trip to Ireland and it definitely won’t be our last, as we loved it there. Of course having the weather around 20C and sunny everyday helped!!!
You really lucked out with that spell of weather – we’re back freezing again now 🙂 Glad you had a good time!!
I’ve seen some rough lines (queues) sometimes but nothing like that! Really hope they have it sorted out before you travel. Fingers crossed Trent.
I’m sure I’ll be okay. Nobody loves a queue though, that’s for sure!
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I went through Terminal 2 this morning at 6am and the security queues were normal. I think the real problems are in Terminal 1.
Yes, I went through T2 instead of T1 recently as well and was straight through as opposed to the queues I saw in T1. Definitely seems like a Terminal 1 thing, I agree.