It might be time to start queuing now…
Eamon Ryan has said there is no guarantee that there won’t be a repeat of the hectic scenes at Dublin Airport this past weekend.
The Minister for Transport made the comments following a meeting with the Dublin Airport Authority on Tuesday (31 May).
“They said they cannot guarantee, but they have to, as we said, do absolutely everything in their power, and Government will do everything they can to support, to make sure we don’t see those scenes again,” Ryan said.
When asked if there was any potential penalties if the scenes continued, Ryan replied “it can’t continue”.
“First things first, you have to provide a proper service to the public.
“You can’t have someone come to queue for two or three hours and then not be able to get a flight.
“It’s just not acceptable, and it can’t be tolerated. The Airport has to manage its operations so it doesn’t occur.”
The Dublin Airport Authority (daa) is set to publish plans within the next 24 hours to avoid a repeat of the scenes across the June Bank Holiday weekend.
Chief Executive Officer for the daa, Dalton Phillips, along with Executive Management, met with Minister for Transport Eamon Ryan and Minister of State with responsibility for international transport Hildegarde Naughton on Tuesday morning (31 May).
The new plans to improve queue management will likely remain in place during the busiest summer period as people prepare to go on holidays.
Tactics to avoid similar delays include maximising available staff, and increasing the number of security lanes at peak times.
The daa is also intending to compensate passengers who missed flights over the weekend due to queues, although details on how it intends to do so have not yet been revealed.
Over 1,000 passengers missed flights on Sunday (29 May) due to issues at the airport, including queues going out the doors of Terminal 1.
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