Dublin Airport fined €10m over security waiting times and terminal cleanliness

Muireann Duffy

Updated: 1.35pm

Dublin Airport has been fined €10.1 million by the aviation regulator for failing to meet some of its targets in 2023.

The Irish Aviation Authority (IAA) issued the fines in respect of missed targets associated with security queue times, cleanliness of terminals and bathrooms, and information on ground transport.

However, the airport also earned a €3.4 million Quality of Service (QoS) bonus for exceeding targets on overall customer satisfaction, ease of movement, wifi satisfaction, and baggage trolley availability.

The IAA noted that security queue times at Dublin Airport had fallen below target in the first five months of 2023, resulting in the penalty, although the authority added that queues "significantly improved in the second half of 2023".

Overall, the airport incurred a penalty of 30c per passenger, offset against the QoS bonus of 10c per passenger.

Commenting on the news, Dublin Airport operator daa said the report "confirms that passengers enjoyed good standards at Dublin Airport in 2023 and those standards are improving all the time".

Daa noted over 15 million passengers flew from Dublin last year, 97 per cent of whom passed through security in less than 20 minutes.

"Any issues flagged by the IAA relate to the early months of 2023 and were corrected before the start of the summer, through the roll-out of our 15-point improvement plan which saw us double down on important things like cleanliness, the removal of clutter and better wayfinding in both terminals.

"Improvements to Wi-Fi speeds, the addition of more seating at departure gates and the creation of family seating areas were also very well-received by passengers and made the passenger experience better," the daa said, adding further improvement are also planned for the coming months.