Joint Committee on Transport and Communications to hear update on Dublin Airport, including disruption and cancellation of Aer Lingus flight schedules, inconvenience for passengers and displaced baggage

The meeting at 10.30am in Committee Room 2 of Leinster House will hear from the following stakeholders and their representatives:

• Aer Lingus: Lynne Embleton (CEO), Donal Moriarty (Chief Corporate Affairs Officer) and Peter O’Neill (Chief Operations Officer).
• DAA: Vincent Harrison (Managing Director, Dublin Airport), Gary McLean (Deputy Managing Director), Louise Bannon (Head of Marketing) and Maurice Hennessy (Chief Information and Security Operations Officer).
• Swissport (ground handling firm): Tony Tully (Director Ground Operations. Swissport UK & Ireland).
• Sky Handling Partner (ground handling firm): Darren Moloney (Managing Director).

The Committee has been very concerned about the difficulties that have been arising in Dublin Airport in recent months. On 1 June, it met DAA in relation to those difficulties, following which DAA took steps to manage the challenges, particularly over the busy summer period. While progress has been made by the DAA, problems – such as delayed and cancelled flights, particularly with Aer Lingus, and lost baggage – have continued.

Speaking ahead of the meeting, the Cathaoirleach of the Committee, Kieran O’Donnell TD, said: “Members of the Committee remain very concerned about the ongoing disruption to both individual and business passengers. We are also very conscious of the busy August bank holiday approaching.

“I am pleased that Aer Lingus, DAA, Swissport and Sky Handling Partner are making themselves available to provide an update to the Committee on the current position at the airport and to explain difficulties that remain and plans in place to resolve these for passengers.

“The Committee looks forward to our engagement with Aer Lingus in respect of the ongoing cancellations of flights, particularly those at Dublin Airport together with the adverse impact of the Heathrow passenger caps on flights from Dublin, Shannon and Cork airports.

“Delayed and lost baggage at Dublin Airport has become a significant issue for passengers over a number of weeks now and the Committee will discuss how these are being managed and resolved for affected passengers with both Swissport and Sky Handling Partner.

“Furthermore, Members welcome the opportunity for an update from Dublin Airport management on the implementation and effectiveness of their specific action plans to address passenger delays at the airport, including the recruitment of additional security staff.

“Having considered the current overall position at the meeting, the Committee will not hesitate to advocate for all appropriate resources and effort to be applied to address the problems arising for air travel passengers.”

The meeting in Committee Room 2 can be viewed live on Oireachtas TV.

The Joint Committee on Transport and Communications has 14 Members, nine from the Dáil and five from the Seanad.

Committee proceedings can also be viewed on the Houses of the Oireachtas Smartphone App, available for Apple and Android devices.