The number of passengers travelling through Dublin Airport will increase as the Easter weekend approaches, but people should continue to follow advice and not arrive too early because they "will get through", the daa has said.
In a statement, daa said it would continue to "refine and adapt its security screening operation, to ensure that all passengers can pass through security in plenty of time to make their flights" after passengers were asked to queue outside Dublin Airport terminal building at the weekend as the airport experienced its busiest period since 2019.
The latest recommendation from Dublin Airport is for passengers to be at the airport 3.5 hours before a flight, but that this is particularly relevant for those flying before 8am.
"Our advice to anyone flying at 9am would be to arrive no earlier than 6am to help us process those on earlier flights first".
Speaking on RTÉ's Today with Claire Byrne, Graeme McQueen of the daa said the advice is to arrive around three-and-a-half hours before an early morning flight.
But, he said, many people were being "spooked" by social media images and arriving earlier than this, which is having an impact.
"That brings people into the airport earlier than they need to be here as making things a little bit busier".
Mr McQueen said he is aware of the difficulties for families travelling with children, and advised parents to bring snacks with them.
He said that a staff task force has been deployed within terminals that can help if needed.
He said that although people did miss flights in March, the daa is continuing to "tweak the model and make refinements".
Mr McQueen said some airlines, such as Ryanair, are allowing passengers to drop off bags early but some are only allowing bags to be dropped two hours before a flight.
He advised people to check with their airline before they travel to the airport and to check in online in advance.
Mr McQueen said the short term plan is to do all that is needed to keep the maximum number of security lanes open, while the long term plan is to recruit more security screeners.
He said that there had been a lot of interest with over 4,000 applicants received in the last few weeks and 250 interviews took place last week alone, and it will be the same again this week.
He added that around 600 people have been recruited and the daa hopes to recruit up to 300 more.
"As the weeks and months go on, passengers are going to see a real difference with these staff coming on board," he said.
The daa is also exploring other options to increase security staff numbers in the short-term, which includes identifying former security screeners still employed by daa, who are now in different roles in the company as well as contacting staff currently on career breaks.
The company is temporarily re-assigning a number of Cork based security staff to Dublin Airport in a manner that will assist the operation, without compromising the product offering in Cork.
The daa is also offering overtime to screening staff to encourage them to take up additional hours to help alleviate the issue.
