Travellers flying through Dublin Airport this Easter have been urged not to arrive excessively early.
Dublin Airport staff are hoping to avoid some of the chaotic scenes witnessed in recent weeks, which saw lengthy queues inside and outside the airport during the busiest periods.
Over 500,000 people are set to travel in and out of Dublin Airport over the coming days during the Easter break.
Airport operator daa on Tuesday said that passengers should arrive at Dublin Airport up to three and a half hours before their flight, but a spokesperson urged passengers not to arrive too early.
Morning passengers due to fly from 8.30am onwards should not arrive into the terminals before 5am, the daa urged.
“Daa is urging morning passengers due to fly from 8.30am onwards, not to arrive into the terminals before 5am,” the spokesperson said.
“This will ease pressure on the security regime and allow passengers flying during the busy first morning wave (those with flights before 8.30am) to progress through security and on to their boarding gates.”
The spokesperson said that passengers do not need to arrive earlier than three and a half hours before their flight.
They said: “Arriving earlier than needed has been found to increase pressure at busy times over recent days and weeks.”
Check-in
The daa recommends that passengers check with their airline before travelling to the airport when check-in and bag drop-off opens, and plan their arrival at the airport based on that information.
Passengers are also encouraged, where possible, to check-in for their flight online.
"To help get passengers through security as quickly and efficiently as possible, security in Dublin Airport's Terminal 1 remains open on a 24/7 basis, while security in Terminal 2 is open from 4am each day," the operator said.
Up to 50,000 passengers per day will be departing Dublin Airport over the coming period.
The airport operator said it had been trying to rebound from the impact of the pandemic and blamed shortages in fully trained staff working at the country’s busiest airport.
“Dublin Airport is currently in the process of hiring almost 300 new security screening staff to help it meet the significant increase in demand for international travel," the spokesperson said.
“Good progress is being made in that recruitment process with more than 500 candidates, from a pool of more than 4,500 applications, having been invited for an interview over the past two weeks.”
Successful candidates must be trained, Garda vetted and put through compulsory security checks before starting work - a process which the daa said takes around five to six weeks.
