Passengers have been advised to check with their airlines before heading to Dublin Airport as the snow wreaks havoc on travel plans this weekend.
Some passengers have allegedly been left sitting on planes for up to six hours at the airport due to snow and ice.
It comes as the Government insisted that it has sufficient levels of salt and grit in stock to get the country through the cold snap.
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This is despite reports of treacherous roads in some parts of the country on Friday morning.
There have been a number of reports on social media that people were left sitting on planes on the tarmac in Dublin Airport for several hours.
Some passengers complained of waiting to take off for over six hours. Fianna Fáil councillor Teresa Costello tweeted to suggest that passengers had sat in an airplane on the tarmac for four hours. They were later let off the flight to get food.
Graeme McQueen, Media Relations Manager with the daa told the Irish Mirror that some flights would be delayed at Dublin Airport on Friday due to the snow.
“While the runways and taxiways at Dublin Airport have been open and operational all day, some airlines experienced delays to their flight schedules due to difficulties they experienced de-icing their aircraft in the extremely cold weather [on Friday morning],” he said.
“This has resulted in knock-on delays to flights later in the day. Passengers are advised to check with their airline for the latest flight information regarding their specific flight.”
When asked about reports about people sitting on planes, the daa said that this was a matter for individual airlines.
A Ryanair spokesperson, meanwhile, confirmed that the airline had cancelled a number of flights out of Dublin.
“Due to severe ice overnight, a small number of Ryanair flights from Dublin Airport have been delayed/cancelled this [Friday] morning,” they said
“Affected customers have been notified and advised of their options.
“We sincerely apologise to affected customers for these weather-related delays/cancellations which are entirely beyond our control.”
Elsewhere, Patrick O’Donovan, Minister for the Office of Public Works, insisted that there is enough salt available to grit the roads.
He told RTÉ’s Today with Claire Byrne that the Department of Transport has “huge amounts of salt” ordered and stockpiled.
“[We have] just short of 200,000 tonnes,” he said.
“We only used 80,000 tonnes during the years 2021 and 2022 together, which will tell you that we’re well resourced with salt.
“The machinery that is out there by the TII [Transport Infrastructure Ireland] and the local authorities, there is adequate machinery out there to spread it.”
Minister O’Donovan also warned that “this could get worse” and that an orange weather warning could be put in place by Met Eireann if temperatures drop to below -5C.
Dublin City Council meanwhile confirmed it gritted over 300km of roads on Thursday night and Friday morning.
It also confirmed that it had 1,800 tonnes of salt in storage in four depots across the city.
The council had ten crews in place from 6pm on Thursday evening night carrying out the work, which targets the main arterial routes into and out of the city.
Some ten gritters and five snow ploughs are available to the council for the purpose of gritting and snow clearance. Additional fleet and machinery utilised by the Division include lorries, JCBs and 4-wheeled drive vehicles.
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