Ryanair tells travellers to come to Dublin Airport 3.5 hours early due to delays

The airline said check-in desks, kiosks and baggage drop will also open three and half hours before flight departures.

The Dublin Airport Authority (DAA) said the delays at security are due to a shortage of staff.

It added that queues are likely to continue to be experienced at peak hours “over the weeks ahead” as it continues to bring additional trained security staff on board.

In a statement released this afternoon, the DAA said: “DAA would like to apologise for lengthy delays experienced by passengers at Dublin Airport in recent days.

“We are sorry for the stress and inconvenience caused, particularly to those who missed a flight as a result.

"We deeply regret that our valued customers had this experience.”

The DAA said it is taking “immediate action” to address the issues but that these processes take several weeks and are happening against a backdrop of growing passenger numbers at Dublin airport.

The authority said it has hired 100 additional staff since the start of the year but there have been delays bringing them on stream due to increased checks on security staff before they can begin working in the airport.

It added: “These factors and others, including Covid related absence, are having an impact on the length of time it is taking passengers to get through security, particularly at busy times, such as the weekend past.

"Unfortunately, queues at security are likely to continue to be experienced at peak hours over the weeks ahead as we continue to bring additional trained security staff on board.”

In a statement released this afternoon, Ryanair said: “Due to DAA staff shortages at Dublin Airport, passengers should arrive at least 3.5 hours before their scheduled departure time.

"Check-in desks, kiosks and baggage drop will be open 3.5 hours before departure.

"We apologise to our customers for these unfortunate security delays, which are entirely out of our control.”

However, in its most recent statement, the DAA is only advising customers to be at the airport a minimum of two hours before boarding a short-haul flight and three hours before boarding a long-haul flight.

Long queues have been reported in the past week at the airport, with stories of passengers missing flights due to the duration spent waiting at security. Some reports detail waits of 90 minutes at security clearance.

The Consumer Association (CA) said they have received a number of reports from customers who have missed flights due to delays at security.