Despite the measure, the DAA says queues at the airport “moved well” on Saturday morning.
Dublin Airport has issued a statement after passengers were asked to queue outside its terminal buildings on Saturday morning.
Images and footage shared on social media show large numbers lined up outside Terminal 1, as well as long-winding queues inside the airport.
This comes after weeks of reports of long waits at Dublin airport security, which have caused some passengers to miss their flights.
As a result, passengers have been advised to arrive three-and-a-half hours before their departure time at minimum.
The airport’s operator, the Dublin Airport Authority (DAA), previously said it was taking action to address the problems, while citing a number of operational issues associated with the resumption of international travel amidst the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.
One such highlighted issue was the recruitment, training and mandatory background checks required for all new staff working at the airport.
In its latest statement, the DAA said that passengers on Saturday morning were heeding its advice to arrive at the airport three and a half hours early.
“This resulted in us having to stagger the flow of passengers into the terminals which was well managed by Airport Police with assistance from An Garda Siochana,” the operator stated.
“Queues for check-in, bag drop and security moved well this morning in advance of the first wave of departures with an average queue time of around an hour before 6am.
“DAA thanks passengers for heeding its advice to arrive up to three and a half hours before their departure time.
“Adhering to this advice, without the need to arrive any earlier, will help passengers get through the security screening process as quickly as possible and avoid any unnecessary long waits before flights.”
As the number of passengers travelling through Dublin Airport this Easter will increase over the coming days, the DAA said it “continues to refine and adapt its security screening operation to ensure that all passengers can pass through security in plenty of time to make their flights”.
It also explained that the shortage of security screening staff is the main reason for the current issues.
“While there have been no constraints on recruitment – more than 100 new security staff have already been recruited so far this year – DAA is re-doubling its efforts to [hire] more staff,” the airport operator said.
“This week, DAA invited about 250 candidates for interview, and almost 100 successfully progressed through the interview stage.
“Bringing recruits into the operation had been delayed recently by the requirement for enhanced background checks for aviation workers which came into effect on 1 January this year.
“Thankfully, however, this logjam is now easing.”
The DAA also said it is exploring other options to increase security staff numbers in the short term.
This includes identifying former security screeners still employed by the operator but now in different roles in the company and contacting staff currently on career breaks to gauge their interest in reverting to security duties in the short term.
“The company is temporarily re-assigning a number of Cork-based security staff to Dublin Airport in a manner that will assist the operation at Dublin, without compromising the product offering in Cork,” it added.
“DAA is also offering overtime to screening staff to encourage them to take up additional hours to help alleviate the issue.”
Main image via Sam Boal/Rollingnews.ie
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