Easter weekend travellers urged not to arrive to airport 'excessively early'

Travellers planning to fly through Dublin Airport this Easter weekend have been urged not to arrive excessively early.

Dublin Airport staff are hoping to avoid some of the chaotic scenes witnessed in recent weeks, which saw lengthy queues inside and outside the airport at-times during the busiest periods.

Over 500,000 people are set to travel in and out of Dublin Airport over the coming days over the Easter break.

Airport operator daa on Tuesday said that passengers should arrive at Dublin Airport up to three and a half hours before their flight.

Around 500,000 passengers will travel in and out of Dublin Airport in the coming days 

“Daa is urging morning passengers due to fly from 08.30 am onwards, not to arrive into the terminals before 05.00am,” the spokesperson said.

“This will ease pressure on the security regime and allow passengers flying during the busy first morning wave (those with flights before 08.30 am) to progress through security and on to their boarding gates.”

The spokesperson said that passengers do not need to arrive earlier than three and a half hours before their flight.

They said: “Arriving earlier than needed has been found to increase pressure at busy times over recent days and weeks.”

The airport said it had been trying to rebound from the impact of the pandemic and blamed shortages in fully trained staff working at the country’s busiest airport.

“Dublin Airport is currently in the process of hiring almost 300 new security screening staff to help it meet the significant increase in demand for international travel.

“Good progress is being made in that recruitment process with more than 500 candidates, from a pool of more than 4,500 applications, having been invited for an interview over the past two weeks,” the spokesperson said.