The airport says it’s on track to have around 900 security staff in place in June.
Dublin Airport has said queue times have improved in recent weeks for its passengers as the airport prepares to deal with the busy summer months to come.
This news comes after weeks of reports of long waits at the airport’s security, which have caused some passengers to miss their flights.
The Dublin Airport Authority (DAA), the operator for the airport, previously said it was taking action to address the problems while citing a number of operational issues associated with the resumption of international travel amidst the ongoing Covid pandemic.
One such highlighted issue was the recruitment, training and mandatory background checks required for all new staff working at the airport.
However, in a statement on Friday (6 May), DAA Media Relations Manager Graeme McQueen revealed that the time it is taking passengers to get through security at Dublin Airport “stabilised considerably” during April and the early part of this month.
“Over the past two weeks, around 90% of passengers have been getting through security in less than 30 minutes, while 98% are getting through in less than 45 minutes,” he said, citing the airport’s “intensive recruitment activity” and its staff as the reason for the reduction.
However, he added that while the potential remains for times longer than this, particularly at busy times, the airport continues to advise passengers to arrive up to two and a half hours before a short-haul flight and three and a half hours before a long-haul flight.
McQueen also said the DAA’s recruitment of 300 additional security personnel has “picked up pace” over the past two months.
“We’ve seen huge interest in our advertised security roles over the past month and with a robust interviewing process, we have identified more than 300 candidates to take forward,” he stated.
“While some of these will inevitably drop out due to being offered roles elsewhere or other circumstances, we currently have more than 170 candidates who have either commenced working in the airport or who have a confirmed start date.
“Our recruitment process continues at pace and we remain on track to have the full required complement of around 900 security staff in place in June.”
McQueen said the addition of these new staff members is “making a valuable difference” to Dublin Airport’s operation, as it prepares to deal with the “busy peak summer months”.
Main image via Sam Boal/Rollingnews.ie
