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Irish Mirror
Irish Mirror
National
Cormac O'Shea

Dublin Airport security queues stretch outside the terminal but it's not what it seems

Images of queues outside Dublin Airport terminal one this morning gave many the impression that more travel chaos was unfolding as Easter holidays started.

Multiple pictures show holiday hopefuls standing in a lengthy line outside Terminal One as early as 4am this morning.

But the airport eased flight missing fears on Twitter as they told passengers that they had planned to filter people in this manner to ease early queues.

They tweeted: "We are currently filtering passengers into the terminal buildings in an orderly manner to join check in & security queues which are moving & we thank passengers for their cooperation & patience at this extremely busy time of the morning in advance of the first wave of departures."

Read more: Dublin Airport responds after more 'crazy' scenes as people arrive from 2.30am to queue for flights

Keith, who provided the image above, told the Irish Mirror that it took him exactly 59 minutes to get from where he was in the queue outside the terminal to the other side of security - labelling the organisation by staff as "super".

And many other passengers praised the airport staff for what they said was a well-run operation.

One tweeted a video of the lack of queues and said they were through in "four minutes", questioning "what's all the fuss about?"

Another happy mother said: "Arrived at airport short term car park 2:32am so daughter could catch flight at 6:30am. Left her at 3:05am at the T1 Q to security. she was through scanning by 3:30. She said more staff had arrived and more channels were open."

One passenger who arrived the recommended three and a half hours early to their flight even complained they were through with too much time to spare, tweeting: "3.5 hours early is still too early for short haul flights, arrived as asked to but now sitting in a gate waiting for nearly two hours for my flight."

Dublin Airport dominated news on Friday after passengers reported "crazy" queues, with one describing the scenes as "carnage" and akin to "a cattle mart".

A spokesperson for the daa said the "significant queues" in both Terminals at Dublin Airport in the early hours of Friday morning were particularly bad between 2.30am and 4.30am.

Have you experienced delays at the airport? Share your story in the comments section

Graeme McQueen, Media Relations Manager at daa, said this was mainly the result of "a large number of passengers arriving earlier than expected ahead of flights later in the morning".

At its peak, it took some passengers up to 70 minutes to pass through security but "queue times reduced considerably once additional security lanes were opened up, as scheduled, in both terminals", he added.

Dublin Airport is warning people travelling over Easter to arrive at the airport "a minimum of three and a half hours prior to their departure time".

"As the number of passengers travelling through Dublin Airport continues to increase over the coming period, daa continues to refine and adapt its security screening operation with the aim of ensuring that we get all passengers through security in plenty of time to make their flight," Mr McQueen said.

READ MORE: Ryanair warning for some holidaymakers with passports close to expiry date as they could be denied travel

READ MORE: 'I went to Dublin Airport at 6am and it was chaos - but not where I expected'

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