Ministers give Dublin Airport deadline to fix problems

The airport has until the bank holiday to deliver an "acceptable passenger experience".

Following reports that at least 1,000 passengers missed their flights due to queues at Dublin Airport, the Dublin Airport Authority (daa) has been given a deadline of the bank holiday weekend to fix the problems. Today, the Minister for Transport Eamon Ryan and the Minister of State for International Travel Hildegarde Naughton met with officials from daa. The ministers urged the daa to implement a plan to reduce queues and to deliver an "acceptable passenger experience". A  joint statement from the ministers read: "Minister of Transport Ryan and Minister of State Naughton have expressed deep unhappiness with the reports of excessively long queues and wait times at Dublin Airport today. "The passenger experience at Dublin Airport is falling far short of the service that our citizens and visitors should expect at our largest State airport. "They said that it was not satisfactory that some people, who are following daa guidelines, are turning up to the airport for check-in on time, but are still missing their flights. The situation is causing undue stress and potential cost to people, which is simply not good enough." [caption id="attachment_557248" align="alignnone" width="600"] Photograph: Sam Boal / RollingNews.ie[/caption] Minister Naughton is scheduled to meet with the the Chief Executive of daa tomorrow morning where she will seek "clarity as to the reasons behind today’s events," as well as "assurances that can be provided to passengers ahead of this coming June bank holiday weekend where there is an expected further increase in numbers". Earlier today, a spokesperson for the daa said that over 1,000 people missed their flights due to delays caused by queues. On RTÉ's Morning Ireland, Kevin Cullinane said: "At this stage we estimate over 1,000 passengers ... we will be doing a final tally with all our airline partners and customers again this morning to ascertain the final number. "But certainly at this stage, it’s well over 1,000 passengers, and we unreservedly apologise." Feature image: Sasko Lazarov/RollingNews.ie  Facebook image of Minister Naughton: Sam Boal/RollingNews.ie