Dublin Airport hit with huge fine over cleanliness issues and long security queues

Further penalties were applied on foot of poor standards of cleanliness in washrooms and more generally across the airport’s two terminals, the IAA said. File picture: PA 

Dublin Airport has been landed with a €10.1m fine from the Irish Aviation Authority for issues including the cleanliness of the terminal and toilets and the length of security queues.

However, on a more positive note, it was also awarded a €3.4m bonus by IAA for "exceeding targets on overall customer satisfaction, ease of movement and finding your way around, availability of baggage trolleys, and satisfaction with the wi-fi". 

In all, then, it faces paying out €6.7m.

Penalties were incurred predominantly due to the length of the airport’s security queue times across the first five months of 2023, which saw a penalty of €0.21 per passenger incurred.

The IAA did note, however, that the performance of the airport’s security queues had “significantly improved” across the final six months of the year.

Further penalties were applied on foot of poor standards of cleanliness in washrooms and more generally across the airport’s two terminals, the IAA said, findings which resulted in penalties of €0.09 per passenger.

A quality of service bonus totalling €0.10 per passenger was awarded to the airport on foot of its having exceeded targets in terms of overall customer satisfaction, the ease of movement noted at the two terminals, the ready availability of baggage trolleys, and the high standard of free wi-fi available to travellers.

A spokesperson for Dublin Airport Authority (Daa) said the IAA report “confirms that passengers enjoyed good standards at Dublin Airport in 2023 and those standards are improving all the time”.

They said “any issues flagged by the IAA relate to the early months of 2023 and were corrected before the start of the summer”.

Those corrections, they said, had been achieved by the rollout of a 15-point improvement plan which had seen the airport “double down on important things like cleanliness, the removal of clutter and better wayfinding in both terminals”.

The overall penalty per passenger of €0.20 has been offset against the maximum airport charge that Daa can levy against airlines, resulting in a final price cap of €8.46 per passenger, the IAA said.

Last March, Daa lodged proceedings at the High Court against the Commission for Aviation Regulation, now the IAA, over the maximum passenger fees it was being allowed to charge at Dublin Airport, a case which has yet to conclude.

The case had resulted after the IAA lowered the price cap applicable to Dublin Airport in December 2022 at variance from the authority’s own draft decision on the subject.