Dublin Airport Queues
Dec | October 28, 2007I’m in St John’s in Canada at the moment and so spent time in 4 airports during the week. Dublin, Heathrow, Montreal and St Johns. By far the longest queues were in Dublin yet the reason for those queues were not capacity, as I’m sure the Dublin Airport Authority and the airlines would claim. The queues were caused by a failure to use facilities that already exist.
First, the worst queue of the day was at the BMI check in desk where people on the 9:05 am flight to London barely made it through check in because the electronic checkin service was rendered useless because the bag drop desk was closed. A BMI representative apologised to us and explained that the company running the bag drop facility was running short staffed because several workers had called in sick. I hope being sick did not ruin their bank holiday weekends as I’m sure missing a flight home may have ruined a persons weekend.
Second the queues at security were as long as I’ve seen yet. At one stage as I watched from the BMI queue the security queue had snaked into the checkin area. Once I got through the queue and into the security area I was surprised to see that they could easily have shortened the wait by simply opening some of the closed xray and metal detectors. One security official told passengers that things were not too bad, saying that during the previous week the queue had reached the carpark outside!
Dublin airport provides a service and just getting stressed people to their planes with a couple of minutes to spare is not enough when the travel experience could be much more relaxing if the facilities already paid for by taxpayers were used. Opening a new terminal in Dublin will not improve the situation if facilities just dont get used.
Well once Shannon becomes a Ryanair warehouse in the new year and the people of the mid-west start making the “short journey” up to Dublin Airport the queue from security will hit the M50.
Surely this is just a moan .. can’t you put is somewhere more interesting.
Look just to follow on from this Dec,
1. It’s news to no-one that Dublin airport has long queues.
I think what Dec was pointing out wasn’t just that Dublin airport has long queues but that the facilities to reduce these queues are already there but aren’t being used (closed metal detectors and baggage drop off areas etc). He also mentions that he was in four international airports during his journey but nowhere was as crowded or chaotic as Dublin – so if they can get it right and manage queues properly, why can’t we?
Yes, it’s news to no-one that there are queues at Dublin airport but that doesn’t mean it’s right or shouldn’t be talked about and discussed.
It is hugely frustrating to stand in a line for a security check at an airport and then to finally get up to the top only to see that out of six or seven security points, only two are open. It’s like standing in line at the supermarket seeing rows and rows of cashdesks closed. So I see your point Dec!
The press reported yesterday that some passengers missed flights because of the queues. It beggers belief that all security aisles weren’t open. Will check-in desks have to open more than 2 hours before flight now?
Yes, I realise that the tone of this blog post did come across as a moan. Jet lag, being annoyed and blog posts dont mix
My point, as Karen spotted, was that the airport is over crowded not because it lacks the facilities and terminals to meet demand but because existing facilities are not being used. I went to 3 other airports that day and did not have to queue for more than 5 or 10 minutes. Even my luggage arrived 5 minutes after I reached baggage collection in Montreal.
What I would like to know is this, what does the Dublin Airport Authority specify as an acceptable level of service? What are acceptable queue times at check-in and security. What about baggage collection? How long do queues have to be before another security point is open? How many people have to miss flights before another check-in desk is opened?
These are the kind of policies that a supermarket would put in place to keep their customers happy so you can bet Dublin Airport has them as well. It seems clear that they accept service levels that are regarded as unacceptable to their customers and in other airports.
Before we spend millions in taxpayers money to build a new terminal I would like to know that those same policies wont continue in the new terminal. We can build hundreds of check-in desks and security points but if they will only open another desk when queue times reach 1hr then where is the point?
Not as bad as the 6 hour round trip I had from central London to Heathrow in a car yesterday that resulted in my family missing their flight and having to pay EUR 1,000 to get a later one home. The reason….rain!
Thank you for such a clear sighted analysis.
I now drive to the UK, taking the ferry, rather
than face Dublin airport. By the time I would have
got onto a ‘plane I’m already half way to my destination,
having enjoyed some well prepared fish and chips and even
a chat along the way.
Dublin is not as bad as CDG in Paris, however.
i have being to 5 airports this year and Dublin airport is byfar the worst. a classic was getting off the plane at dublin airport from dusseldorf when arrived i walked less 5 minutes and the fuckers lost my luggage. in fairness it wasnt the airline’s fault
but baggage handelers. how can anyone loose baggage in less than 5 minutes?
My first time here. Nice blog you have. Will surely come back.
Cheers,
Azlan
I flew through Dublin a few years back, before the smoking ban. The waiting-to-board area was a large hall, with prominent “no smoking” signs, so as I walked towards it I thought I’d have a comfortable wait.
I was wrong.
There was a busy licensed bar in the middle, and its seating area was signposted as “smoking”. The rest of us paying passengers were protected from this smoke by… tape. One strip of white tape on poles!
As a result the hall was so smoky that I had to wait for my plane standing out in the corridor.
“acceptable level of service”, indeed.