Passengers travelling through Dublin airport have again hit out claiming missed flights and long queues on Friday. The complaints from travellers come as the airport faces its busiest weekend since the pandemic.
Those hoping to escape the wet weather for sun holidays this weekend could be in for a surprise at the airport, according to reports. A number of people have taken to Twitter to report 'mayhem' at both terminals in Dublin Airport.
It appears passengers are also complaining to airlines, including Aer Lingus, about not being able to check-in online and being made to stand in three and a half hour queues at the airport, reports Irish Mirror.
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One man suffering a nightmare trip through the airport on Friday wrote directly to Aer Lingus on Friday afternoon and said: "3.5 hour wait at Dublin airport just to check in and check bags. Couldn’t check in online. Missed our flight to Dulles. Currently having to fly to PHL with no ability to route to Dulles per ticket agent. What can we do??"
Another man bemoaned the situation and claimed it was "mayhem again at Dublin airport," claiming that "mismanagement of the security checks doesn't help. What about learning from previous mistakes?!? Very poorly organised!"
At lunchtime on Friday, passenger numbers were already rising and one woman took to Twitter to say: "Dublin Airport chaotic today. Massive queues earlier - about 1.5 hours - to check in (I wasn't able to do it online. 40 mins at security which isn't the worst - then huge queue in T2 eating area. Staff clueless - not enough seating. Now queueing to get to boarding gate - madness."
Dublin Airport later responded to the woman on Twitter, saying: "We are very sorry for your inconvenience here. We understand the issue has - thankfully - now been resolved. Wishing you a pleasant flight."
Responding to the Irish Mirror on Friday afternoon, a Dublin Airport Authority (DAA) spokesperson dispelled claims of mayhem, describing it as "a busy Friday afternoon at Dublin Airport."
"Things are moving well at security screening in both terminals, as they have done since the busy first wave of flights this morning," they added.
The comments match those from the DAA on Friday morning when they issued a statement saying they had made a good start to the busiest weekend since the pandemic.
"The weekend has started well," the statement read, "with our busy first wave on Friday morning, our busiest period of the day, seeing passengers get through security screening in both terminals in under 30 minutes.”
Passengers had attested to short waiting times, with one posting on Twitter this morning: “Kudos to @DublinAirport, straightforward experience today with security taking 30 minutes.”
Another wrote: “Got through security in less than 30 minutes in Dublin Airport. Only had hand luggage though; luggage drop-off queues were quite long. #DublinAirport.”
Meanwhile, Minister for Transport Eamon Ryan has said the army could be drafted in to help if queues get out of hand. Speaking on RTE radio on Friday afternoon, he said: “We will do everything we can to get through these problems."
“We will look at all options, including the army. I always said we would look at all measures," he added.
Advice from DAA remains that people should arrive at 2.5 hours before a short-haul flight and 3.5 hours before long-haul. Allow for an additional hour if you need to check in a bag.
“With more than 50,000 passengers departing each day this weekend, we advise anyone flying out to continue to follow our passenger advice,” the spokesperson said.
The airport operator said that these numbers will become the average over the summer period.
The DAA has said that this weekend will see at least 200,000 people travelling from Dublin Airport, but they are hopeful that there will be no major queues or delays.
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