Dublin Airport

Staff at Dublin Airport are at " Breaking Point " and should not be blamed for delays, a union has said.

More Than 1,000 passengers missed their flights from The Airport due to queues on Sunday.

The Airport has been

About 190,000 departures are expected this Bank Holiday weekend, according to the Dublin Airport Authority (DAA).

The DAA has.

Jerry Brennan, from Services Industrial Professional and Technical Union (SIPTU), said staff were under " tremendous pressure".

" This is not an Isolated Incident , passenger numbers started to return in great volumes since last December, " Mr Brennan told BBC Radio Foyle.

It is understood about 1,000 airport workers have accepted voluntary redundancy since September 2020.

The DAA offered voluntary severance to its staff in 2020 as it dealt with the impact of coronavirus travel restrictions.

In April of this year, the Business Post reported that 248 security screening staff at the DAA, which also operates Cork Airport, had taken voluntary redundancy in the previous 18 Months .

It Comes As One Security Officer at The Airport , who spoke to Irish broadcaster RTÉ, told Morning Ireland that airport security staff

The DAA has said it is " committed to safeguarding all those who travel through and work at Dublin Airport ".

Graeme McQueen, media relations manager for the DAA, said the " health, safety and welfare of our staff is an absolute priority for DAA".

He added that the DAA was " hugely grateful" to all staff navigating the sharp demand for international travel.

" The recruitment process being carried out by the DAA is not getting the results required, " said Mr Brennan.

" The staff are doing their best, they want to assist passengers, they want to get passengers through The Airport .

" But they are just at Breaking Point and it needs to change. "

The trade union spokesman said There was " no easy solution" but believes increasing wages for advertised jobs at The Airport would go some way in attracting People into the industry.

Mr McQueen said passenger numbers in recent months had " bounced back quicker than even The Most optimistic of analysts predicted".

" During April and May, Dublin Airport has served More Than 4. 5 million passengers in total, which is almost 500,000 passengers More Than initial forecasts, and just 15% below The Levels we saw during the same period in 2019, which was a record year for Dublin Airport , " he added.

He Said this had not been without its challenges for the DAA.

Mr McQueen said The Airport was in The Process of recruiting 370 new security staff, with about 300 of these position having already been filled.

Paul Hackett from the Irish Travel Agents Association told BBC Radio Ulster's Good Morning Ulster programme that Sunday's scenes had caused " reputational damage to Ireland".

He Said it had " simply not been good enough for passengers leaving the country to Go On holidays and for passengers leaving the country to return after a holiday in Ireland".

" It is now beholden on DAA to report back This Morning and have a very clear plan of what they intend to do this weekend to avoid a repeat of those scenes, " He Said .

" I think last Sunday was, hopefully, a one-off situation. There were only six security lanes open on Sunday but yesterday There were 12, " he told the programme.

" The Airport lost The Pitch very early on Sunday Morning and that's what they have to address.

" We have to understand that There are consumers Here - There are families, People with mobility issues, older People - None of whom deserve to be treated like that, " he added.

The Chief executive of Ryanair called for the Irish Army to be deployed.

Jerry Brennan said this would be an " extreme measure" and that the army was not trained to carry out the security measures.

On Sunday, the DAA's Kevin Cullinane said about 50,000 passengers had been expected to depart through The Airport but There had been an insufficient number of security lanes open.

On Monday Morning , extra security lanes opened early to facilitate the anticipated early arrival of passengers for flights, according to RTÉ.

Source of news: bbc.com