Dublin Airport is unique amongst the major European hub airports, insofar as it does not have an effective International Transit Zone, save the minor exception of the "200s" gates in T1. All passengers transiting via Dublin are required to pass Irish Immigration before proceeding to their onward flights, even when they have no intention of leaving the airport or visiting Ireland.
The reasons for this were traditionally blamed on the physical layout of Dublin Airport, yet this argument can not continue to hold especially since T2, which opened in 2011, also failed to include a transit hall and also requires all transiting passengers to clear Irish Immigration irrelevant of final destination.
The Transit Experience
In effect, the experience of transiting in Dublin differs greatly depending on (1) which gate your arriving and departing flights happen to use, (2) whether or not you have your onward boarding pass, (3) whether or not your luggage is checked to your final destination and (4) what passport you hold.
Passengers arriving at the "100s" gates (familiar to most Ryanair passengers) walk under the departure area and follow the elevated glass corridor before arriving at Immigration. Then they must walk the full length of the T1 baggage hall before climbing an escalator and taking two sharp bends before being spit out awkwardly at the main T1 security search point.
Passengers arriving at the "200s" gates (AirFrance/CityJet, AerArann/AerLingus Regional, FlyBe and others) follow a similar, if shorter route, unless they happen to have a connection departing from the same area. If they arrive and depart from the "200s," they can board their next flight without passing any security or Immigration checks at all. Yes, these are the gates normally used for flights to Donegal, and yes passengers arriving from abroad can avoid immigration entirely and enter Ireland unchecked this way.
Passengers arriving at the "300s" gates (Lufthansa, Turkish Airlines, BMI and others) meet Irish Immigration in the recently revamped old US PreClearance area before arriving in the middle of the T1 baggage hall. From there they follow the same route via the esculator at baggage belt 1. All gates in T1 and T2 can be accessed from here.
T2 arriving passengers have a slightly easier time with a dedicated transit corridor equipped with its own Immigration counter and security check. Passengers can then easily access the T2 gates or alternatively can follow the warren of corridors to gates in T1.
So, other than delaying and irritating passengers, why does all this matter?
There are a number of serious disadvantages to the current system for transit passengers, for airlines and for state officials such as Immigration officers and Customs officials.
Manpower
Firstly, requiring all passengers transiting through Dublin airport to pass Immigration is a waste of resources. Why should already stretched Immigration officers be wasting time checking people who do not want to come into Ireland? Under the current layout of T1, there is no route for transit passengers to be channeled directly to security screening and as such all passengers must pass one of the two T1 Immigration points as if entering Ireland. In T2, there is such a channel although all passengers are still required to pass Immigration. This system wastes time, delays transiting passengers and is a waste of state resources. It also adds unnecessarily to lines at Immigration for actual Dublin bound passengers in T1.
Inherent Risks
Secondly, requiring passengers to clear Irish Immigration presents risks. The current system provides the possibility for transiting passengers to abscond without the knowledge of the Immigration officials. For example, there is nothing to stop transiting passengers arriving into any gate in T1 stating their intention is to transit and then simply walking out the exit by customs in the baggage hall. The cost of an onward flight and pre-printed boarding pass may prove a worthwhile investment for someone intending on sneaking into the country, or heading onward to the UK by land or sea. Furthermore, Immigration officers have no way of knowing if the transit passenger did in fact board their onward flight. This route may be of particular interest to nationals of countries who do need a visa to enter Ireland, but are exempt from needing transit visas. Similarly, it could be a route into the UK without meeting UK Border Agency checks.
As mentioned above, passengers arriving into the "200s" gates have free reign to board flights as they wish and are not security screened. With security screening this would make sense, however not where domestic and international flights depart from the same area. Under the current system a passenger can arrive off a Air France/CityJet flight from Paris and, un checked, catch the next AerArann/FlyBe flight to Donegal.
Adding further to this failure of airport design, passengers heading on domestic flights are routinely mingled with those heading abroad. This means that any transiting passenger, no matter which gate they arrive at, could simply buy a second onward flight from Dublin (a cheap Ryanair to Cork for example). By showing the first onward (International) boarding pass to Immigration officials, and keeping their second (Domestic) boarding pass hidden in their pocket, they can in effect enter Ireland without the appropriate documents. On arrival in Cork or Donegal these "domestic passengers" are of course not subject to immigration checks. There is also a chance that one could fly onward to the UK, however it's likely they would be stopped by an airline agent on boarding. If by chance they were not stopped by boarding staff, that passenger would not face any UK Border Agency checks on arrival to their UK destination. In either case if the passenger were refused boarding by airline officials, they could always revert to the Donegal option and catch the Donegal-Glasgow direct bus run by Feda brothers.
Effective Customs Enforcement
Thirdly, the current lack of distinction between domestic and international flights hinders effective Customs checks. As there is no distinction between domestic and international flights, never mind EU and Non-EU ones, transiting passengers who connect through Dublin to say Cork or Donegal, don't clear their luggage and are highly unlikely to be checked at their final destination arriving off a Dublin flight. Whilst the EU system for applying green striped checked bag tags was designed to highlight passengers arriving from Non-EU embarkation airports, clearly this is useless for passengers with no checked luggage and in any case this system is routinely ignored by overstretched Customs staff. Passengers seldom read, never mind respect, the colour coded customs channels on exiting either baggage hall in Dublin.
Irritating Passengers
A difficult transit system irritates passengers and is therefore is bad for airlines as well as the Dublin Airport Authority coffers. Less transit passengers equals less flight tickets sold, less snacks bought in transit and less landing fees collected.
Why would passengers choose a difficult transit in Dublin when so many alternatives are available? In most major European hub airports, transiting passengers can simply pass security screening and hop onto their connecting flight. They are only required to pass Immigration where they plan on entering that country or if their onward flight is domestic/Schengen. Other airports have gone further to allow passengers to even change terminals whilst staying airside. Frankfurt, for example, uses designated carriages on their monorail system whilst other airports use corridors (Amsterdam) or shuttle busses (Heathrow, St.Petersburg, Munich).
Thankfully, airside transit between T1 and T2 does exist in Dublin, however unlike landside, only gate numbers are signposted and it is assumed that passengers know all the "100s, 200s and 300s" gates are in T1 and that the "400s" are in T2. Another difficulty is the sheer distance and the lack of airside transit desks for most airlines. A passenger arriving into T2 unfortunate enough to have a connection from the "100s" gates in T1 had better have their hiking boots on and, in most cases, had better have their boarding pass in hand as they will not find a transit desk en-route. This is made worse still in T1 where most check-in desks are not equipped to print boarding passes (although this is scheduled to change). Non-EU/EEA Ryanair passengers cannot transit by following the signs even if they do have their onward boarding pass as they require a Ryanair “Visa-Checked” stamp on their boarding pass which is only available in the T1 Check-In area. Unlucky Non-EU/EEA passengers normally learn this at the boarding gate when it's too late to go back and they miss their flight without refund.
Low Cost Carriers and "Self Interlining"
Far from trying to simply catch up with international competitor airports, Dublin should embrace its low cost carrier airlines and maximise connectivity options for passengers. Low cost carriers such as Ryanair focus on point to point sales leaving their passengers to work out the logistics and take the risks of "self-interlining." Similarly they will not check your bag through to your final destination, rather requiring you to re check yourself after each flight. The difficulty with this is the need to get to the baggage hall and check-in desks to do this - not an easy task if you require a visa for Ireland and arrive into T2. Arriving into T1 does allow access to the baggage hall, re-checking your bag however will require an illegal, and awkward, de-tour via Customs and upstairs to departures similar to those seeking the elusive "Visa Checked" stamp.
Connections across the Atlantic
With US PreFlight Clearance in Ireland, Dublin (and Shannon) have a unique opportunity to provide transit opportunities for trans-atlantic passengers. With these flights deemed domestic US flights, passengers can avoid lengthy queues on arrival in the USA and there is the opportunity to open routes into cheaper domestic airports. Currently there are daily flights to New York (AerLingus and Delta) Newark (United/Continental) Boston (AerLingus), Chicago (AerLingus and American Airlines), Philadelphia (US Airways), Atlanta (Delta), and Orlando (AerLingus).
If Dublin can develop convenient transit services it is in a prime position to maximise through passenger ticket sales and hence revenues for airlines as well as the Dublin Airport Authority and its shops and restaurants.
What is the solution?
The solution to these problems is a little more complex than simply inserting transit channels which bypass Immigration and direct passengers through security to their next flight gate.
Common Travel Area
Firstly comes the question of Irish domestic flights and our commitments under the Ireland and UK Common Travel Area. Clearly passengers connecting to flights within Ireland will need to clear Immigration in Dublin, but as the UK Border agency do not check passengers arriving from Ireland (or elsewhere within the Common Travel Area), does that also mean passengers on UK bound flights must also be excluded from Immigration avoiding transit channels ? The answer is probably yes.
This will likely require physical segregation of passengers heading to Irish and UK destinations from all other passengers, probably by means of designating a particular area for all Irish and UK flights.
An alternative option might see a boarding pass control (or bar code scanner) positioned to halt Ireland and UK bound transit passengers from using Immigration avoiding transit corridors.
Both options present drawbacks. The first option would be difficult to implement, would require major physical changes to the airport and might cause difficulties for airlines who currently turnaround aircraft arriving from Ireland or the UK which go on to depart for other destinations. It would also likely frustrate any airlines ambition of keeping all their flights in one area of the airport. On both of these points Ryanair may stand to be impacted the most as it operates almost all of its flights from the "100s" gates. Aer Lingus too may have difficulties, although they already have their AerLingus Regional flights (operated by AerArann) and some other morning flights using gates far from their advertised "New Home" in T2. On the positive side however, having a designated Ireland Domestic plus UK area would be much more secure, would eliminate the risk posed by double boarding card holders and would reduce the demand on state services.
Such an area, with Ireland and UK bound passenger segregation, would allow the state to consider its policy of checking ID of passengers arriving from within the Irish and UK Common Travel Area, something long abandoned by land or sea. Do we need to bother checking passports of those arriving off flights from the UK when anyone trying to avoid the checks knows they can simply use the ferry or bus via Belfast?
The second option, using a barcode reader to halt Irish and UK bound passengers using the immigration avoiding transit channels, could be a stop gap but leaves the gate wide open for double boarding pass holders and is therefore not a great solution.
Time for a Plan
In conclusion, the current system for passenger transit in Dublin Airport is flawed. It is over burdensome on state services, is not convenient for passengers and has a few loop holes which need to be addressed. The solutions are not going to be easy due to the layout and design of the terminals. Furthermore, any changes made will demand a major re-examination of how we approach the Ireland and UK Common Travel Area. We will also need to consider our willingness to facilitate low cost carrier self interlining and what we expect in terms of Customs checks. Difficult as it may be, Dublin Airport needs to wake up and take on this challenge or it will continue to see passengers go elsewhere.
Joe O Murchadha
22 APR 2012
Dublin Airport Authority Maps - Click Here
AerLingus Connection Info - Click Here
Irish Aviation Authority ICAO Docking Chart - Click Here
Disclaimer - Policies, regulations and procedures on the ground change from time to time, however a diligent effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of this information.
