Are regional airports the answer to Dublin's woes?

Enhanced background checks have slowed the recruitment drive at Dublin Airport for security screening personnel, leading to long delays at the facility. Is there a case for moving some of the air passengers in Ireland away from the airport to Cork, Shannon, Knock or Farranfore airports?

The CSO stats show that Dublin Airport accounted for a staggering 85.7% of air passengers in Ireland - underlining its dominant position. File picture Colin Keegan, Collins Dublin

As the chaos unfolded at Dublin Airport, a passenger on board a flight to Cork Airport posted a message on social media that seemed to perfectly capture the stark contrast between what travellers are facing.

Consultant paediatrician, Dr Niamh Lynch, said she spent six minutes in a security queue on her outbound journey from Cork Airport and that it took 15 minutes to get from the front door of the airport to the departure gate.

“Wouldn’t fly out of Dublin if you paid me these days,” she said. Thousands would agree with her after their experience over the weekend.

The Dublin Airport Authority (daa), which operates Dublin and Cork Airport, has blamed a shortage of suitably qualified and trained security screening personnel for Dublin’s problems, which first emerged in March.

The Dublin Airport Authority's recruitment drive has been a mess and has prompted growing calls from business leaders in the south and west for more flights out of Cork and Shannon airports. File picture

Of the 1,000 or so people the daa made redundant in the previous 18 months during the pandemic, 248 were let go from Dublin’s security screening operation alone through a voluntary redundancy scheme. The daa has been insisting since March that it is trying to recruit more security screening staff.

It is understood the airport has recruited around 300 but the requirement is for 370. Since January, new recruits face enhanced background checks - a higher level of garda vetting - and that process can take up to six weeks.

It’s become painfully obvious however that the management of this recruitment drive has been a mess, and that it hasn’t kept pace with the recovery in aviation.

It has prompted growing calls from business leaders in the south and west for more flights out of Cork and Shannon airports, certainly until management in Dublin get their act together, but possibly even in the longer term.

Cork Business Association president Kevin Herlihy was one of the first out of the blocks to call for Cork Airport to be used more. “From an outsider’s perspective, it just seems to be common sense that some of the flights in and out of Dublin be moved to Cork or Shannon or Knock or Farranfore," he said.

The CSO stats show that Dublin Airport accounted for a staggering 85.7% of air passengers in Ireland - underlining its dominant position.

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Dublin Airport has a number of features that makes it attractive to airlines, including its geographic location on the North Atlantic Trans-Continental route, US Preclearance, single terminal transfers, and its location near the national capital city with its significant catchment area.

Cork and Shannon airports lack the capacity of Dublin and have lower bargaining power when dealing with larger, well-established airlines. But Cork and Shannon airports also have distinct advantages.

One provides a gateway to the Wild Atlantic Way, the west of Ireland, and all that has to offer. The other provides a gateway to both the Wild Atlantic Way and Ireland’s Ancient East, and vital access to the metropolitan Cork area and its concentration of life sciences, ICT and pharmaceutical industries.

Moving flights

Aviation experts say the regional airports are always looking to attract new business but that the current issues at Dublin, frustrating and all as they are in the short term, will be resolved in time, and that a long-to-medium term strategic view should be taken when canvassing for new airline business.

“People have to remember that we are in peak summer season, which runs from April to October, and flight schedules are locked in," one well-placed source says.

“It is difficult for airlines to move flights within a season because there is an implicit contract with passengers that they will operate out of particular airports.

If the airlines decided to move route from Dublin to Cork or Shannon, then they are adding travel time to a person’s journey, and that doesn’t always fly with passengers.

“Now, it can be done in emergency situations, for example when an airport has to close for whatever reason. But as an elective thing? It just wouldn’t be the norm.

“It could however be considered for the winter season, which runs from October to March when the flights aren’t locked in yet.” 

The expert suggested the airlines could however poll their passengers over the coming weeks, using their online databases, and could offer a “commission-free option” to switch the departure airport from Dublin to either Cork or Shannon.

“But that would have to be done with the consent of passengers. Either way, it’s unlikely to happen in the short term," the source said. “Dublin has plenty of capacity, once it is properly staffed.” 

And based on statements from Ryanair and Aer Lingus, transferring flights from Dublin to either Cork or Shannon in the short term doesn't seem to be on their radar.

Ryanair CEO, Eddie Wilson, took a swipe at Dublin Airport management, saying that instead of pursuing “gold-plated” capital projects, such as ‘tunnels under runways’, the daa should be focused instead on resolving its staffing problem.

Shannon Airport provides a gateway to the Wild Atlantic Way, the west of Ireland, and all that has to offer.

“The daa has mismanaged the recovery from the Covid-19 crisis and are now seeking to jeopardise the future growth and development of Irish tourism with this price-gouging application for an 88% increase in airport charges, which it seeks to justify by proposing ludicrous spending on unnecessary ‘tunnels under runways’ which Dublin’s airlines and Dublin’s passengers don’t need, and can’t pay for."

Aer Lingus didn’t respond to specific queries about relocating routes out of Dublin to Cork and Shannon while Dublin is dealing with its staffing issues.

In a statement, it said: “Screening delays at Dublin Airport on Sunday caused considerable disruption to the Aer Lingus schedule. Aer Lingus waived change fees on flights departing on Sunday to allow customers to change their travel plans in response to the delays.

“Aer Lingus wishes to sincerely apologise to customers who were impacted by these issues which were outside of our control. Aer Lingus will be engaging with daa accordingly.” 

It did warn, however, that while it had waived change fees, fare charges may differ when people seek to rebook new flights.