Almost a quarter of a million people will come and go from Dublin Airport over the holiday, making it the busiest weekend for international travel since the Covid-19 crisis began in March last year.
The airport authority, DAA, has expressed confidence that despite a significant increase in traffic, it will have the resources to do so.
It has also warned passengers that they will play a role in reducing possible delays. With the school holidays starting on the weekend, this could be the first time abroad for many families in a few years. The airport encourages travelers to allow adequate time for their flights and to familiarize themselves with all pandemic-related health and safety requirements.
About 225,000 passengers are expected to use the airport this weekend, compared to just over 30,000 on the bank holiday last October when restrictions were in place. However, Kevin Cullinane, Chief communications officer for the DAA group that manages both Dublin and Cork Airport, noted that this was also a 42 percent decrease from the same weekend in 2019 when the passenger count was close to 400,000.
“We definitely saw a pick-up and that’s welcome, of course, but we’re still a long way from where we were two years ago,” he said.
Around 1,600 flights will arrive and depart and will carry an average of more than 56,000 passengers per day until Monday.
Manage crowds
Mr Cullinane said passenger numbers have increased in recent weeks, which has enabled airport officials to become familiar with how to deal with crowds and ensure social distancing rules and other guidelines are enforced.
He was optimistic that the airport would have sufficient resources to handle the highest throughput in more than 18 months.
He said the airport will have customer care teams on duty in both terminals over the weekend to help passengers travel through the airport.
He urged passengers to arrive at the airport at least two hours before their flight’s departure time and to ensure that they have prepared in advance for the paperwork.
He also advised passengers to go straight to the security checkpoints after checking in to reduce the likelihood of delays.
Passengers traveling to EU countries need a digital Covid certificate or a negative Covid test. They are also required to complete an electronic passenger search form on their return to Dublin. There are also special requirements for certain EU countries, such as B. filling out a health check-up form before traveling to Spain. Specific requirements for each EU country can be found on reopen.europa.eu.
