Irish holidaymakers may be in for further chaos at Dublin Airport terminals after the chief executive of the Dublin Airport Authority (DAA) said there could be a risk of a flight cap if it can’t cope with passenger numbers.
The airport has previously encountered difficulties with security and check-in delays as it struggles to deal with staffing shortages seen throughout Europe since international travel reopened.
Airports such as London’s Gatwick and Amsterdam’s Schiphol have restricted the number of flights that airlines can operate during the peak summer season.
READ MORE: Chaos in Terminal 1 and 2 as Dublin Airport updates 'peak times' for passengers heading away
DAA chief executive Dalton Philips said: “We are working hard to avoid the types of restrictive measures introduced in many international airports over recent weeks, albeit risks remain, and we continue to monitor developments on an hourly basis.”
The news comes after passengers at Dublin Airport experienced huge security delays last month, causing over 1,000 passengers to miss their flights.
Mr Philips was speaking on Monday as the DAA released its annual report for 2021. The report stated it made a €103m pre-exceptional loss for the year, compared to a €183m pre-exceptional loss in 2020.
The CEO said the losses came despite more than 1,000 staff being let go during the pandemic, with Covid accounting for €387m in losses at the DAA over the past two years. Mr Philips also said strained operations would likely continue over the busy summer months.
He said: “Dublin Airport entered 2022 with significantly diminished staffing capacity, some months ahead of the steepest rise in air travel in its history.”
Adding: “Despite the Herculean efforts of DAA employees, this capacity and timing mismatch has had a regrettable impact on service delivery and quality that is being addressed at pace but will likely result in strained operations through the coming busy summer months.”
Mr Philips said that the DAA continues to hire new security officers, open more security lanes and improve its queue management systems at Dublin Airport.
He said that queue times are now below 45 minutes for most passengers, “but vulnerabilities remain”.
Passengers have also reported issues with baggage handling, with some waiting for hours over the weekend to collect their bags.
Lost luggage has also become a concern after bags that were due to be delivered to passengers weeks ago appear to have been left stranded in the airport’s baggage hall.
This has resulted from third-party providers who handle baggage suffering the same staffing shortfalls.
Aer Lingus also cancelled flights at the weekend due to the impact of Covid-related absences and air traffic control strikes in Europe.
This resulted in chaos for passengers who had already travelled to Dublin Airport to catch their flights.
“Though Dublin Airport expects to have doubled its security screening staff to 920 staff over the coming weeks, challenges remain,” conceded Mr Philips.
He added: “Peak volumes after two years of domestic vacationing, alongside staffing challenges facing the airlines and other airport partners that operate at Dublin Airport across check-in, baggage handling, and retail and hospitality services, are impacting customer experience, something [the] DAA is working hard to address in collaboration with our aviation partners and airlines.”
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