DAA HAS REVEALED its 15 point plan to ensure that passengers will not face huge queues after significant delays made the headlines last summer.
The plan focuses on providing customers with quicker security times, faster Wi-Fi, additional seating and the addition of designated “family seating areas”.
DAA, the operator of the airport, has stated that it aims to get 90% of passengers through security in “less than twenty minutes” this summer, by “building on the stable performance experienced so far this year, with 92% of passengers processed in under 20 minutes”.
The plan also includes a “full refurbishment” of Fast Track, which is underway in both Terminal 1 and Terminal 2.
Passengers departing from Dublin Airport over the summer months are still advised to arrive at their terminal two hours in advance of short haul flights, and three hours in advance of long haul flights.
The new plan comes after scores of passengers missed their flights last summer due to huge queues at the airport, which ultimately saw members of the Defence Forces placed on standby to help airport staff process passengers through security.
The situation escalated to the point where several politicians called for people in senior management to be fired.
Speaking last May, Fine Gael TD Alan Farrell said: “How many needs to be in the queue before somebody asks if heads should roll,” he asked.
“If you can’t manage airport operations, I cannot be alone in suggesting that there needs to be a change. And I’m not referring to this chief executive who has already announced his intention to move on.”
Now DAA is planning to avoid a repeat of last year’s scenes through their refurbishment of the airport, which is to include 400 additional seats, and two new dedicated family seating zones in Terminal 1, which are to open in time for the Easter holidays.
DAA CEO Kenny Jacobs said that the operator has listened to passenger’s feedback, and has focused on improving the things that “matter most to them”.
He promised that this summer passengers can expect to see “more staff, shorter queues, more seats, new family seating zones and less clutter across the airport.”
“There will be more buses and taxis at the airport, and more place to eat and drink,” he added.
Jacobs said that charging phones and other devices at the airport will also be easier as there will be “20% more power sockets and USB charging ports”.
“A full audit of existing sockets and ports has also been completed, with all broken units having been replaced,” he added.
The changes to the airport are to be brought in on time for the busy summer season, which will see a range of new destinations introduced from Dublin Airport.
DAA has stated that more than 1.5 million extra seats have been added across the airports route network for this summer compared to last, representing a 6% increase.
Other measures being taken include a plan to make the bathrooms cleaner, and the introduction of “collection lockers” for shoppers, which DAA said will “make it easier for people to shop and collect at their leisure”.
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