Ireland puts military on standby to help Dublin airport amid COVID outbreak

More than one in four security staff at Dublin Airport were absent during the last major wave of COVID-19 in early 2022.

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DUBLIN — Ireland agreed on Tuesday to put the military on standby to help with security at Dublin Airport if staff were hit by a resurgence of COVID-19 during the remainder of the busy summer travel period.

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Ireland’s main airport is one of many in Europe that has struggled to hire staff quickly enough to cope with a strong resumption in travel, although it has had relatively few problems as more than 1,000 passengers missed their flight in a single day last month.

As cases of COVID-19 rise again in Ireland, the Dublin Airport Authority (DAA) has called for members of the Defense Force to be trained and certified to enable them to be put on standby to help with security duties.

More than one in four security staff at Dublin Airport were absent during the last major wave of COVID-19 in early 2022, the Department for Transport has said.

« The Defense Force will only be deployed in a scenario where there is a significant deterioration in passenger waiting times with a risk of large numbers of passengers missing their flights, » Transport Minister Eamon Ryan said in a statement. a statement.

Passenger numbers at Dublin Airport are now over 90% of 2019 levels and Ryan said the airport expects a further 10% increase in the coming weeks. The army would only be on standby in July and August, he added.

A DAA spokesperson said Monday the airport was on track to meet its goal of having more than 900 security guards in place by the end of June, and hoped to add another 100 in July.

The DAA laid off 25% of its staff at the height of the pandemic, which its chief executive acknowledged last month as too severe a cut.