Originally Posted by
tartan 201
I don't think DUB's arrangement has an airside pier sterilised for USPC exclusive use. The facility there uses the lower level of the pier serving the 400 series gates, with non-USPC flights served from gates from the upper level of that pier. So the pier overall serves a mix of USPC and non-USPC destinations.
There's large glass doors that can seal off elements of the upper level for US flights in peak times also in DUB, then off peak they open again returning the upper level for non US-bound flights. The main area of contention around all this is Emirates. When USPC is in full swing, only one gate is suitable in T2 for their ops and if the previous occupier is late departing they are stuck waiting. The DUB facility is pretty much at capacity now most of the day..until recently that almost eradicated the advantage as you had queue to go through security again in USPC. This is no longer the case thankfully as the regular screening equipment has been upgraded to US standard.
The value of USPC varies. If you are taking a connecting flight in the US, it greatly assists in short connection times when you land and removes a great deal of the stress. If you are travelling on a short business trip and managed to get on with just hand luggage you can be in a taxi in less than 10 mins in LAX in particular. Also some airports in the US are far worse than others for queuing at their end for immigration. I haven't flown to a US airport without pre-clearance much due the DUB and SNN facilities, but MIA and LAX were always particularly dire for me. JFK and MCO could also be very bad depending on what other flights offloaded just prior to mine and were also in the same queue.
Is it worth doing at MAN? I can certainly see VS in particular wanting it, which means DL should be lobbying for it too. All the noise out of EI are that they are committed long term to MAN and see future growth. Seems a no brainer for EDI, but there's no way the US will allow pre-cleared pax to mix with every other passenger after screening I'd imagine.