More than 670 claims made for compensation over missed flights at Dublin Airport

Passengers queue to get into the Departures at Terminal 2, Dublin Airport over the June Bank Holiday weekend. Picture: Colin Keegan, Collins Dublin

More than 670 claims have been made for compensation over missed flights at Dublin Airport last month, but just 44 cases have so far been closed, Daa has said.

Prior to the June bank holiday weekend, huge queues formed outside Ireland’s busiest airport leading to over 1,000 passengers missing flights.

Ministers had said that there would have to be consequences for Daa management if the scenes seen in late May were replicated while the Daa itself said that had it let the nation down over the situation at Dublin Airport.

Pressure was put on the Daa to address the long waiting times to get through security, and it has introduced measures such as holding areas for passengers who arrive too early for their scheduled flight to ease congestion.

In a statement, the company which also operates Cork Airport, said that 679 claimants have come forward to make a claim for missing flights due to the delays.

A Daa spokesperson said: “We are awaiting information from 388 claimants. Our Customer Experience Team is reviewing information received from 291 claimants, and continuing to secure appropriate receipts for expenses incurred to close out these claims.

“44 cases have been fully closed to date that meet the requirement to submit vouched receipts for the expenses incurred.” Daa did not provide details of the average compensation payout across these cases.

A spokesperson added that once it receives all the information relating to a claim, it is aiming to process and reimburse passengers within three weeks.

Security times at the airport still fluctuate widely depending on how busy the airport is, with queues as long as 45 minutes reported at 10am on Monday at Terminal 2.

It comes as traffic in Dublin Airport as the crisis in security queues peaked in May was still down on the number of passengers passing through the airport in the same month in 2019, new figures show.

The latest statistics from the Central Statistics Office show that 2,582,822 passengers travelled through Dublin Airport in May 2022, down 13% on pre-pandemic levels.

Traffic was even further back in the country’s other major airports, with Cork Airport at 85% of 2019 levels, Shannon at 84% and Knock at 85%.

Public transport

Meanwhile, the CSO also said on Monday that public transport journeys have climbed to their highest level since March 2020. However, they have still not returned to pre-Covid levels.

“The number of bus journeys in Dublin for week beginning 23 May 2022 was 84% of the level in week beginning 02 March 2020, compared with 89% for bus journeys outside Dublin and 78% for rail journeys,” the CSO said.

Public transport numbers also got a boost from the 20% reduction across all Transport for Ireland services that came into effect last month, according to the CSO.

Statistician Nele van der Wielen said: “The number of LUAS passenger journeys increased by 8% from week 18 to week 19. This is the highest weekly rise since the lifting of Covid-19 restrictions in January. At the end of May, LUAS passenger journeys climbed to their highest levels since March 2020, but have not returned to pre-COVID-19 levels.” The volume of bicycle traffic also rose, up 30% on the same period last year and volume at peak times up 70%.

Traffic on the roads is also nearing pre-Covid levels and has risen significantly since Christmas as Covid restrictions lifted.

Car traffic on roads in Dublin and at selected regional sites increased by 38% and 39%, respectively, between the first week of January and the last week of May. The number of HGVs on the roads was broadly the same as in 2021, and higher on pre-pandemic figures.