Dublin Airport has admitted that it will need to increase staffing levels to avoid a repeat of last summer’s horror scenes.
But its chief Kenny Jacobs today issued a suite of promises to passengers to claim that staff will be recruited on time to avoid a repeat of last year’s nightmare travel upheaval.
He vowed that holidaymakers will have a pain-free experience amid plans for them to breeze through security in under 20 minutes in a much cleaner airport.
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Fed up families last summer complained of rubbish and dirty toilets at the airport, while thousands queued for hours, and many missed flights due to insufficient staffing levels caused by workers leaving during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Mr Jacobs said passengers can arrive two hours before flights this summer, unlike the advice for four hours a year ago, and said that Dublin Airport intends to have scanners in place by early next year that could eventually see the end of the 100ml hand luggage restriction.
The risks posed by the illegal flying of drones near the airport will be eliminated shortly as new tech to take out drones will soon be available, according to daa boss Jacobs.
He also confirmed that the regulator was asked to approve new charges for car drop-offs at the airport, but promised that there are “no current plans to charge for drop-off” and “nothing is going to happen soon”.
But Jacobs, who was appointed last November, also revealed that daa wants to increase the fee that they can charge airlines for every person who travels through the airport.
The regulator has capped this at €8, but he wants to increase it “to double digits, closer to €10 than €20”.
He said: “This summer won’t be anything like last summer.
“Ultimately, I’d like to see us get to a place where we can say 15 minutes [through security].
“We have staffed-up, so we will have 815 staff in security. At the moment, we have 750. We need 815 by the start of June.
“I’m comfortable that we’ll get there. They’ll be trained up and ready to go.”
Jacobs was speaking just weeks after DAA issued a 15-point plan of assurances, such as security times and adding 400 extra seats throughout the airport for passengers.
He said today: “We are in a good place for summer when traffic levels will be close to 2019 levels.
“During Easter, we got 92 per cent of all passengers through in 20 minutes. That was 100,000 passengers a day.
“This summer absolutely won’t be a repeat of the scenes from last summer.
“The tents have been gone since January, barriers too. We are in a much better place.
“If you are flying from Dublin Airport this summer for short-haul, be in the terminal from two hours before your flights. Last year it was four hours.”
He added: “We have doubled the number of cleaning times we have in each of the 500 toilets and restaurants and bars will be cleaned more often.
“Facilities and standards, like going for a coffee, getting something to eat, using the toilet will be totally different than it was last summer.
“Last year, a lot of operational staff [like cleaners] were brought into security because there was a shortage of security staff. This year, that won’t happen.”
He continued: “I would love us to get to 1,000 security staff so that we can ultimately get to a 15-mimute security target.
“But we do need the charge to go up to allow us to do that.”
Meanwhile, Jacobs vowed to appear before the Oireachtas Transport Committee to answer queries about a security breach at Dublin Airport.
It emerged earlier this week that he refused a request to appear because he was too busy to see the committee, which has power to compel people to appear before it.
He took time from his schedule today to visit RTE studios and said: “You [must] have balance. We are running a multi-national business.
“Dublin Airport is Ireland’s national airport. We are in a very busy peak period.
“Once we are through that period, I am very happy to go in.”
The security breach involved someone without a boarding pass at T2 getting through airport security and onto a plane last month, sparking a DAA procedural review.
It has also been claimed by a whistleblower that training is under par, that security screening is not for purpose, and that Dublin Airport is exposed to a terrorist attack.
Jacobs said: “Our multi-layered approach to security led to that person being taken off the plane by airport police and then they were handed over to An Garda Siochana.
“It shouldn’t have happened.”
He added: “The whistleblower claim is under investigation. I’m very confident with security at Dublin Airport.”
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