People heading away this June Bank Holiday weekend will be anxious to know how smoothly Dublin Airport will run after over 1,000 passengers missed their flights on Sunday due to lengthy queues.
The delays caused huge outrage among passengers, with some international tourists branding the airport as "shameful" after they missed their flights and were forced to sleep on the floor.
However, things may not be completely fixed in time for the bank holiday weekend as the DAA confirmed that staffing levels remain at just 70 per cent of what they were pre Covid, reports the Independent.
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Staff shortages have been a major point of contention for the airport in recent months, with longer queue times at baggage and security experienced on several occasions.
Airport bosses have been working on a remedy to the problem since Monday after Minister Hildegarde Naughton told DAA chiefs she wanted an actionable plan on her desk by Tuesday morning to set out how daa will avoid such chaos in the future.
Transport Minister Eamon Ryan and Minister Naughton held crunch talks with DAA boss Dalton Philips and his management team this morning. Ms Naughton also met with airlines on Monday afternoon.
Minister Naughton told RTÉ: "I have instructed that a plan is to be issued to me in the morning. How will they address this issue and ensure people get through security and don't miss their flight.
"The reason outlined today was in relation to staff and people being out sick, but my focus today wasn't about excuses - they are no different to every other business or sector across the country that have to deal with people being out sick… it's up to the DAA to be able to manage that.
"They dealt with this in the past. Back in March, they got ahead of the queues. What happened at the weekend was totally unacceptable. To have young children and elderly people queuing for hours - you'd want to be in the full of your health to do that".
The advice from the DAA on arrival time prior to flights has remained the same for all passengers.
Media manager for the daa, Graeme McQueen told RTE’s Claire Byrne that nobody should miss a flight due to queues from now on.
He suggested that passengers arrive at the airport 2.5 hours ahead of a short-haul flight and 3.5 hours ahead of a transatlantic flight as arriving too early can cause bottlenecks and allowing an extra half hour on advised times for baggage check is plenty of additional time.
The news comes after Dublin Airport said it would refund all passengers who missed their flights on Sunday.
However, although passengers can claim money back for all "reasonable out-of-pocket expenses" incurred, it will not cover the costs of missed holidays or events.
DAA said it would work with passengers who were affected by the delays to ensure they are reimbursed for out-of-pocket expenses such as re-booked flights, extra accommodation and transport costs.
A spokesperson said: "In the first instance, impacted passengers are urged to contact Dublin Airport's Customer Experience Team via customerexperience@dublinairport.com, who will respond with a claim form that will need to be completed and returned, along with receipts for reasonable, out-of-pocket expenses.
"DAA thanks passengers in advance for their patience as we deal with a large volume of correspondence from the past few days."
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