Dublin Airport passengers have been given an official warning that long delays are to be expected in the coming days and weeks due to staffing shortages.
Reports of people waiting for up to two and a half hours for security screening have circulated on social media, with some even saying that the delays caused them to miss their flights.
Like many other airports, Dublin Airport has been significantly impacted by the pandemic as international travel operations were significantly reduced and many staff left under a voluntary severance scheme.
The airport has now been scrambling to hire staff and train them in time for the busy summer season.
The daa, which operates Dublin Airport, has apologised for the delays and to the affected passengers.
It said: "Like other airports all over Europe, we are currently working extremely hard to ramp-up our operation at Dublin Airport after the collapse of international travel over the past two years including the hiring and training of staff after 1,000 workers left the airport under a voluntary severance scheme during the Covid-19 pandemic."
Since January, over 100 new security staff have been recruited.
However, the daa said the recruitment, training and background security checks required for all staff working at international airports could take up to a number of weeks.
It said: "This is having an impact on the length of time it is taking passengers to get through security, particularly at busy times.
"We apologise in advance but queues for security are likely to be experienced at peak hours over the days and weeks ahead as we continue to bring trained staff on board."
Footage on social media showed long queues inside Terminal 1 on Sunday evening. However, these queues later eased as the evening continued.
Bottled water has also been made available to passengers queuing for security.
With further delays expected in the coming days and weeks, passengers have been advised to arrive in plenty of time for their flight, especially during peak hours.
The daa said: "To minimise the impact, we encourage all passengers to check-in bags where they can and to carry the minimum amount with them when presenting at security."
Passengers are also encouraged to "be at the airport a minimum of two hours before boarding a short-haul flight and three hours prior to boarding a long-haul flight."
The daa has acknowledged that some people have missed flights due to the delays.
In a statement, it said: "We empathise completely with any passengers who have missed a flight this weekend as a result of the delays at airport security."
"Thankfully, many of those passengers have been accommodated on later flights or have rebooked," it added.
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