LAST UPDATE | 4 Apr 2023

ANTI-DRONE TECHNOLOGY is in place at Dublin Airport but staff there have to “work through regulatory requirements” before they are allowed to use it.

This morning, Ryanair called on Transport Minister Eamon Ryan and the daa to ensure that recently purchased anti-drone technology is “in place and fully ready to operate over the busy Easter holiday period”.

The airline added that passengers must not “suffer drone closures this Easter or into the summer”.

Illegal drone activity at the airport has caused six closures to Dublin Airport so far this year.

It is against the law to fly a drone within five kilometres of the airport and daa has condemned the recent incidents as drone activity as “reckless and illegal”.

A Ryanair spokesperson said it is “unacceptable that flights and passengers have suffered repeated delays and diversions due to illegal drone activity at Dublin Airport”.

They added that Minister Ryan “promised to protect passengers with anti-drone equipment, so he must now confirm that this equipment is in place and fully operational at Dublin Airport in advance of the busy Easter holidays”.

Dunlin Airport currently works with a company called Dedrone, who provides the airport with drone detection technology.

In a statement to The Journal, a daa spokesperson confirmed that anti-drone technology was “purchased a number of weeks ago”.

This technology was described by the spokesperson as “operationally proven counter drone technology”.

They added that “airport fire officers at Dublin Airport have been trained on how to use it”.

However, the spokesperson said: “We are currently working through regulatory requirements before we are allowed use it.”

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The daa spokesperson added: “We are continuing to work with the relevant regulatory agencies in advance of deployment of this new counter drone technology.”

Close to half a million passengers are set to pass through Dublin Airport over the coming Easter Weekend.

It’s anticipated that 248,000 people will depart from Dublin Airport during the five days between Thursday, 6 April and Monday, 10 April, while 23,000 will arrive into Ireland through Dublin Airport.

It means the airport is in store for the busiest weekend of the year so far.

Easter Monday will be the busiest day of the five-day period, with 103,000 passengers flying in and out of Dublin Airport.

Passengers departing from Dublin Airport are advised to arrive at their terminal two hours in advance of a short-haul flight and three hours before a long-haul flight.