Comments on: Dublin Airport Queues

By: Julie

Julie — Sat, 31 May 2008 17:56:43 +0000

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.

By: Azlan | Cheap flights to Canada

Azlan | Cheap flights to Canada — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 19:47:45 +0000

My first time here. Nice blog you have. Will surely come back.

Cheers,
Azlan

By: underscore06@msn.com

underscore06@msn.com — Tue, 06 Nov 2007 19:51:10 +0000

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?

By: M Buckley

M Buckley — Wed, 31 Oct 2007 16:27:10 +0000

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.

By: Daragh

Daragh — Mon, 29 Oct 2007 15:38:04 +0000

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!

By: Dec

Dec — Mon, 29 Oct 2007 14:35:58 +0000

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?

By: dervla

dervla — Mon, 29 Oct 2007 14:02:10 +0000

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?

By: Karen

Karen — Mon, 29 Oct 2007 13:54:48 +0000

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!

By: Stephen

Stephen — Mon, 29 Oct 2007 10:28:47 +0000

Look just to follow on from this Dec,
1. It’s news to no-one that Dublin airport has long queues.

By: Stephen

Stephen — Mon, 29 Oct 2007 07:08:21 +0000

Surely this is just a moan .. can’t you put is somewhere more interesting.