Thousands of passengers who were forced to queue outside Dublin Airport for several hours on Saturday had the bad news that they had missed their flights broken to them by a message from the airport operator on Twitter.
In a tweet posted to the official account of Dublin Airport, passengers waiting outside the airport building due to overcrowding inside were told they might “not make their flight” and would have to contact their airline to get rebooked on another service.
The Dublin Airport Authority expected as many as 50,000 passengers to pass through the airport on Saturday but staff shortages had already put the airport on high alert.
Snaking lines of queueing passengers were seen outside the airport from early on Saturday due to long lines to check in and get through security screening.
In a separate tweet, the airport said it was “working to ensure queuing times are minimal for all passengers, but anyone travelling from Dublin Airport today is advised to allow additional time.”
“Dublin Airport apologies unreservedly to passengers for the delays encountered this morning”.
A spokesperson added that “passengers queueing outside the terminal may not make their flight & may need to contact their airline to rebook”.
Georgina Forbes said passengers had been stuck in queues for three to four hours as the airport struggled to cope with the number of passengers hoping to travel on Saturday. The Denver-based traveller said she made her flight with just 15 minutes to spare but that the plane was being held for nearly an hour to wait for other passengers.
Another passenger, Michelle Nic Grianna described the experience as “disgraceful”. She said passengers were left crying as they waited to get through a security checkpoint with just four lanes open.
In order to avoid similar chaos, the operators of Amsterdam Schipol Airport asked airlines to cap passenger numbers over the weekend. The Dutch airport has been struggling to deal with overcrowding for several weeks due to security staff shortages.
The airport says it is working to hire new staff as quickly as possible and is negotiating with workers’ unions to improve pay and conditions in order to attract more applications.
Passengers have also been blamed for the delays, however, because they are not complying with security rules. Aviation insiders claim passengers are no longer used to flying after two years of pandemic-era restrictions and are causing delays because so many bags need to be rescreened.
