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Dublin Live
Dublin Live
National
Gavin O'Callaghan

The unusual Dublin Airport rules you may not know - and can get fined for breaking

More and more people are descending on Ireland's airports as the country's finally opened up and the sunny season kicks in.

With that has come long queues, with recent reports that Dublin Airport is seeing crazy wait times of up to four hours for some people.

Thankfully that's not the case in Cork where they recently launched their brilliant summer schedule, while many others are heading out from Shannon and Knock.

Read more: Dublin Airport security queues stretching outside terminal was 'plan to filter passengers'

But what many might not know is that there's a long list of rules when going to an Irish airport, and breaking them could land passengers an on-the-spot fine or even a court appearance.

So we've had a look through Ireland's airport bye-laws and picked out some of the more unusual requirements.

Feeding birds

Yep. Feeding birds at an airport is banned, and there's good reason for this.

Airports like to keep birds away for safety reasons as they can sometimes get caught in aircraft engines, a danger known as 'bird strike'.

For that reason releasing birds is also banned.

Escalator use

We've seen videos of people pretending to row on those escalators, or going backwards up them. But how many know they may be breaking a bye-law by doing it?

'Improper use of an escalator' is listed as a prohibited act while in an airport. So avoid messing or you could end up out of pocket.

Waving flags

Waving a flag in itself isn't illegal at an airport. Posters or banners are also OK. But if it is "the opinion of an authorised officer" that the item might be offensive or a "nuisance" then people can be hit with fines.

An authorised officer has the power to seize them if they do decide that's the case.

Cameras

Using a camera, phone, or "similar handheld device" could cause passengers a problem if they do it in an area with signs saying not to.

If an officer thinks their use is "contrary to the interests of security and safety at the airport" then they can take action.

If any of the above rules are broke then items can be seized and even destroyed and fines could be dished.

Permission

Along with the basic rules above there's also a couple of odd things people mightn't have known they need permission for.

For example, "entering or leaving an airport otherwise than by the main roads" is one that needs clearance, so if someone happens to leave on foot and decides to cute through a field then they could be in bother.

One of the sillier ones that we imagine they don't get too many requests for is grazing animals. So if any farmers want to bring their cows to the airport for a bite they'll need to ring ahead.

A more common one that could catch people out (although we imagine a lot of discretion is used here) is iPads, which can be taken off people if they "cause annoyance of a person using the airport". So we advice keeping the headphones in.

Read more: Dublin Airport bosses blame latest queue chaos on passengers turning up too early

Read more: Woman travelling to Dublin Airport gets £100 parking fine for stopping at Bristol for two minutes

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