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Dublin Airport Claims New Security Measures Will Further Cut Waiting Times For Passengers

Dublin Airport has recently announced new security measures involving liquids, gels and electronics, with it now not being necessary to take electronics out of carry on bags, as well as now being allowed to have liquids and gels up to 2 litres.

These gels and liquids can now be kept in hand luggage, a big change to the previous rules of needing to keep liquids and gels under 100ml and having to keep them in a see-through bag.

However, these are not the only changes to the new security measures, with around 30 new C3 scanners being implemented to both terminals in Dublin Airport. These C3 scanners use advanced technology to see through materials and make any possible security threats easily detectable.

This addition makes Dublin Airport one of the first in Europe to fully switch to C3 scanners, which DAA (Dublin Airport Authority) CEO Kenny Jacobs is thrilled about:

“The completion of the C3 scanner rollout at Dublin Airport marks a major milestone in enhancing the passenger experience. Travellers no longer need to remove liquids or electronics from their hand luggage during security screening, making the process faster, smoother and more secure. This multi-million-euro investment reflects our commitment to reducing queues and improving efficiency, ensuring passengers spend less time waiting and more time enjoying their journey.”

DAA logo at Dublin Airport Terminal 2, photo from dublinairport.com

These changes have been introduced as measures to achieve the DAA goal of ensuring 90% of passengers take less than twenty minutes to get past security at Dublin Airport.

The DAA set the same goal for their 2024 year, confirming in their annual reports and accounts that they comfortably exceeded this target at both Dublin and Cork Airport.

However, how impactful will those changes really be? Not just for passengers, but for those who work in airport security and other staff alike. To find out their opinion on the subject, I spoke to Lauren Toland, an air hostess with plenty of knowledge on security in Dublin Airport, who described the changes as “necessary”.

“I think it’s always necessary to keep updating things and trying to make things easier for passengers. I know more than anyone how stressful the airport can be, busy literally all the time, so any little help that can make things slightly easier is always welcome. People just want to get through security as quick as possible, obviously the checks have to be done thoroughly, but to be able to do it to the best of the security’s ability just means it’s a better scenario for everyone involved.”

Lauren went on to describe how the complaints about security become “tiring”.

“I don’t think anyone on the planet enjoys going through security, it can be tiring to hear people complaining about it but I’m definitely hearing less and less of it as the years go by, which is a credit to the company for genuinely trying to improve things.”

With this response, as well as the optimistic statement made by the DAA CEO Kenny Jacobs, it is clear that these new security measures appear to be bringing positive change so far. Shorter waiting times for passengers as well as new advanced equipment for staff appears to be leading to a smoother experience for all involved.

We will soon discover the true extent to which the new measures have had once the DAA releases its annual report for 2025 later on this year.

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October 15, 2025
Berliners give a last salute to their beloved airport

The famous Tegel Airport (TXL) closed its doors on Sunday the 8th of October with the last direct flight to Paris. Abderrahmen Ben Chouchane talked to locals about what the airport meant to them.

Overview of the hexagon shaped Airport Tegel.Photo by mariohagen from Pixabay.

The last take-off of Air France flight AF 1235 left Berlin on Sunday the 8th of October and thousands of residents gathered to admire it, including Berlin governing mayor Michael Muller.

“I’ll say it quite clearly, it’s a day when the hearts of many people are bleeding,” Michael Muller told news agency DPA. “For us Berliners, Tegel was the gateway to the world during the long Cold War decades when West Berlin was a democratic exclave inside the communist German Democratic Republic, surrounded by the Berlin Wall.”

With the closure of Tempelhof Airport in 2008 and now that of Tegel, a dark period in German history also ends. For many Berliners, the closure of the airport provoked distress, anger and some joy and a well-deserved peace.

Ricarda grew up and lives in Berlin and associates Tegel airport with many memories of her youth. “I grew up in West-Berlin and Tegel was the only airport a lot of celebrities would arrive at,” she said. “It’s very accessible too, so whenever we had big events in West-Berlin, we knew we would come across one or two stars.”

The closure took place a week after the opening of the extended terminals 1-2 of the infamous Schönefeld airport (BER) in Brandenburg located in the south-east of the German capital.

Stephan Ude, a 58-year-old German resident in Brandenburg, said: “Tegel Airport is only 20 minutes away by car from my home and when landing sometimes I see the region where I’m living so it really feels like coming home – but now we have to travel through the whole city of Berlin for more than one hour.”

The capacity of the airport was designed to have around 2 million passengers per year and recently, prior to the pandemic, numbers surpassed the 2 million, giving Tegel a reputation of delays and lost luggage.

“The last few years when more and more people started flying from Tegel it was over capacity,” said Stephan. “But it was like the chaos of Berlin; a lovely chaos.”

According to a referendum held in Berlin in 2012, most voted for Tegel to stay open but due to plans from the governor to open an extension in BER they decided to close TXL.

“The decision has been taken by people who have never even lived in Berlin long enough to understand the piece of history this airport means for Berlin,” Ricarda said. “Berlin is big enough to have two airports – Tegel in the North-West and Schönefeld (BER) at the South-East.

“So here we are in the Capital of Germany without our own airport anymore. I am also upset about politicians completely ignoring what the people want.”

The airport was only 10km away from the city centre, so for many it was a fast way to catch a flight – but for others the loud noises and the excessive pollution were extremely tiresome.

Albert, a 26-year-old art student and climate change activist said: “Residents around Tegel can finally take a deep breath as aircraft pollution and noise pollution are finally over.

Flying is extremely damaging to the climate and I do not recommend it as a lot of greener options are available. In summertime late arrivals keep me awake all night and sometimes if I am hanging out at the park with my friends it is really hard to hear each other from the noise.”

Albert and Ricarda declined to give their surnames for this article.

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November 13, 2020
Dublin Airport’s new runway to attract more tourists to our shores

By David O’Farrell

The tourism sector of the Irish economy is set to receive a major boost with the building of a new runway at Dublin Airport. In 2018, over 31 million people passed through Dublin Airport, travelling to over 180 destinations across the world. An Bord Pleanála passed the application for another runway at Dublin Airport in 2007, but due to the economic crash, plans had been put on hold until 2016.

The new runway will be over 3,000 metres long, more than six times longer than O’Connell Street and will open potential new markets for tourism in long-haul destinations such as the Americas, Asia and Africa. Construction first began on the runway in December 2016 and is on course for its scheduled completion in 2021.

The north runway is expected to deliver a 31% gain in connectivity between Dublin and the rest of the world, making it a crucial European airport. It will open opportunities for connecting tourists to spend some time in Dublin and the rest of Ireland. In the last five years, Dublin Airport has seen a 34% increase in total passenger numbers and a 59% increase in transatlantic seats, highlighting the need for another runway to cope with this ever-increasing demand.

“The north runway is expected to deliver a 31% gain in connectivity between Dublin and the rest of the world”

Tourism Ireland is the company responsible for marketing Ireland to potential tourists abroad and they see the building of the new runway as an opportunity to attract a more diverse audience to Ireland. Sinead Grace, Media and Public Relations Manager for Tourism Ireland said: “As the main gateway for tourists to Ireland, Dublin Airport has a critical role to play in the continued growth of tourism, particularly from long-haul and emerging markets.”

“As an island destination, the importance of convenient, direct, non-stop flights cannot be overstated, they are absolutely critical to achieving growth in inbound tourism,” she continued. “As such, we work very closely with all airports on the island of Ireland, to drive inbound flights.”

“As the main gateway for tourists to Ireland, Dublin Airport has a critical role to play in the continued growth of tourism”
Sinead Grace: Media and Public Relations Manager for Tourism Ireland

Tourism is Ireland’s largest indigenous industry and one of the main benefits of the new runway at Dublin Airport will be the fact that it will be able to handle every type of commercial aircraft due to its length, which currently is not possible as the existing runways aren’t long enough. This will be a big boost to opening up markets in foreign locations.

Source: Wikimedia Commons

Grace went on to talk about the importance of tourism in Ireland: “Tourism is responsible for in excess of 4% of GNP in the Republic of Ireland, and for employing about 325,000 people across the island.

“In 2018, we welcomed almost 11.2 million overseas visitors to the island of Ireland (+5% on 2017), delivering revenue of approximately €5.86 billion (+5%). We are very much focused on driving growth in overseas holidaymakers; and growth in revenue from overseas holidaymakers,” she added.

“In 2018, we welcomed almost 11.2 million overseas visitors to the island of Ireland, delivering revenue of approximately €5.86 billion”
Sinead Grace: Media and Public Relations Manager for Tourism Ireland

The first pavement of concrete is currently being laid onto the runway and the Dublin Airport Authority (DAA) said that this is a key milestone in the construction of the €320 million runway. Dalton Philips, Chief Executive of the DAA, said: “We’re delighted to be starting to build the top pavement concrete layer of Ireland’s new runway. North runway is an essential development for the Irish economy and will help underpin additional tourism, trade and foreign direct investment for years to come.”

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November 5, 2019
New site take-off? 9 ways you know you’re flying Ryanair

Sit back and relax, right? Photography: ‘fabbriciuse’ via Flickr

Ryanair has finally accepted their website is AWFUL.

Speaking on RTE’s Prime Time, Chief Executive Michael O’Leary accepted that the site is “the source of most complaints [from customers]”.

O’Leary described the site as “clunky” and “very frustrating”, echoing the user experience of… everyone.

But we’re in luck, O’Leary has promised a rollout of developments in the coming weeks making the site “simpler to engage with”.

To celebrate the good news, The City has compiled a list of the nine ways you know you’re on a Ryanair flight.

1. You’ve inadvertently added travel insurance, RyanairTalk or a bus transfer to your booking.

We’ve all done it, at least once. The frustration of booking the flight becomes a minefield of finger-slips. And that travel insurance doesn’t come cheap!

2. Ok. You’ve made the booking. Wait. You forgot to print out the boarding pass!

Quick! You’ve twenty minutes until the four hour deadline. It’s a game of mission impossible with the printer cables.

3. Phew, you’re at the airport. Carry-on luggage? Ryanair doesn’t think so!

You bought duty-free didn’t you? Silly, silly silly. You’re clearly a Ryanair nube. Now comes the 10 minute struggle at the departure gates stuffing Toblerones and that reduced bottle of Jack into your tattered old school rucksack.

4. You’re in. Time for the seat scramble.

It’s like a game of musical chairs, except your only sound track is the gentle hum of elevator music. Yep, no pre-assigned seating with Ryanair. Get held up at the departure gates with that Toblerone? Welcome to the seat right at the back next to the screaming baby.

5. Buckle up. Phone on airplane mode and… OFF. Ready for your safety demonstration?

Keep tuned in, because blink and its gone. Your hostess of the most-ess will be throwing on the oxygen mask and life vest like it’s a real life emergency. Don’t forget to thoroughly read the safety card!

6. And it’s take off! Sit back, enjoy the ride and, you guessed it, the Ryanair lottery tickets.

Relax they said. Take a nap they said. Oh, and listen to us drone on as we patrol the isle with tickets, perfumes, e-ciggarettes and miniature aeroplanes.

7. It’s no use, you’re awake. You might as well get a cup of tae. €3!?

Yep, and you better hope you’re sorry tush you’re not hungry. A packet soup is another €3.50, and a panini accompaniment will set you back €5.50. Wallet empty and only 15 minutes into the flight. Lets hope you’re not travelling too far.

8. You got some sleep and the captain’s announcing the landing. Wait for it… wait for it… “toot to-toot!”

The infamous Ryanair on-time trumpet jingle.

9. Phone on and airplane mode off. Hysterical beeping from your phone. Backpack on. Ready for the hike to the arrivals lounge?

That’s an estimated 30 minute walk. What Ryanair doesn’t tell you is that the secret to their cheap flights is in them having you walk half the journey… enjoy! Oh, and welcome to your destination.

Got any other fond memories of your Ryanair travels? Tell us in the comments!

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October 9, 2013