DUBLIN - 2

[ayroplain]

With so many extra flights (allegedly) to be generated by the takeover of EI by IAG it makes you wonder can DUB cope, especially at rush hours.

T2 is so full that EI has spread all the way to take over Pier 3 and also claimed some stands at Pier 2 for aircraft waiting to be towed. BA has been forced out of Pier 3 at least for its early morning flights. (on a side note, the flight calls at Pier 2 are sometimes being interrupted by EI calls looking for their missing passengers from 3. Do the people making these announcements even know they are being heard in Pier 2 and interrupting other airlines' calls in progress? In any event, if the missing are in Pier 2 they aren't going to make it as there's no way back from there).

Anyway, it's fascinating to watch the early morning movements and it's worth getting to the airport early to observe. Each of the two cul-de-sacs created by building T2 where it is have a fleet of aircraft trying to get out whilst another fleet are trying to get in. Standing in both their ways is the progression (procession?) of aircraft on their way to 28. On top of that, some T/A arrivals for T2, notably AA, are left waiting on mid-field taxiways for three quarters of an hour or so until, finally, they are accomodated and manage to slowly penetrate the defensive lines and reach their designated stands.

On three recent trips my departing flights took 40-45 mins from push back to line-up. That's some waste of fuel. Mind you, a friend of mine says that, at other times of the day, you might not see anything land or take off for 15 minutes or more - but he tends to exaggerate!!

Looking (admittedly from a distance) at the dimensions of the holding/taxiway area where the two FR mishaps occurred you'd be amazed that it happened only twice.

On the other hand, (fingers and toes crossed) the Security in T1 has improved beyond belief compared to what it was a couple of years ago. Over the Winter my maximum wait was no more than about 5/6 minutes and even now, as things hot up, it's no more than about 15 mins. It seems that, at long last, someone discovered that opening up more than a third of the channels makes things a lot better for passengers.

Up until the last couple of weeks the Passport Control was a disgrace but (same digits crossed) it, too, has recently been properly staffed for rush hour arrivals.

If Airport Shopping is your thing I expect you are in Heaven.

Shame that the airfield facilities appear to have been rather poorly designed.