Friday, 3 June 2022 | 12°C Dublin
More sophisticated scanners can reduce baggage scanning times by up to half. Photo: Colin Keegan
Passengers at Dublin Airport will have to keep removing laptops, iPads, liquids, aerosols and baby food from their luggage for another 12 to 18 months, until new, more sophisticated baggage scanners are installed, the Irish Independent can reveal.
M ore sophisticated scanners are already in use at Shannon Airport, which says they can reduce baggage scanning times by up to half, compared to the situation in Dublin where liquids, laptops and tablets have to be removed, which significantly slows down security checks.
Such scanners are also used at other airports including Amsterdam and London City.
The news emerges as Dublin Airport Authority ( DAA) comes under pressure after security queue chaos during which at least 1,000 passengers missed their flights on Sunday, and with the even busier bank holiday weekend approaching.
Asked when the machines would be installed in Dublin, a spokeswoman for the DAA said: “Dublin Airport’s implementation of the EU aviation security regulation in relation to the 100ml [liquids, laptops and tablets] still stands.
“We are currently working towards upgrading the technology within our security process that will allow us to remove this rule.
“This may take 12 to 18 months to complete, as Dublin Airport has 30 X-ray machines it will be a more complex process.”
Shannon installed the machines in October, at a cost of €2.5m, as part of a wider €17m revamp of the airport.
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Installing the machines at Shannon was also a complex process, involving months of planning and work.
“With this new system all liquid, gels, aerosols, creams, pastes, and baby food, medicines and special dietary products that would previously have had to be put into clear, sealed plastic bags and presented separate to hand luggage, can now remain packed in cabin bags,” the airport said after the work was completed.
“The restriction on liquids of more than 100ml no longer applies.
“And passengers can travel with larger quantities of liquids as long as they fit into a cabin bag.
“In addition, electrical items, laptops and tablets no longer have to be separately screened and can remain in cabin bags which of course means less trays per passenger.”
The work could possibly have been completed at Dublin during the pandemic, when there were very few passengers.
In a statement, the Department of Transport said: “While Government provided DAA with €97m for Dublin Airport in 2021 under a State aid approved Covid Supplementary Support Scheme to give capacity to support recovery and growth of connectivity through route incentives and rebates on charges, it is Government policy that DAA operate on a fully commercial basis and does not receive exchequer funding.”
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