The DUB Passport/Immigration Queue Thread

California Dreamer

The Veteran wrote: »

Californian Dreamer - the crest on the front of the booths and on officer uniforms tell you who run the controls; I can’t be responsible for your igonorance of the facts on the ground. Plus the primary concern of officers concerns the operation of effective controls not fast ones as you see it. The reality is that an EU passenger is through in 3 to 5 minutes on an average basis.
.

After a 0600 outbound flight, a full day of meetings and a 1900 inbound flight I really should take the time to look at the crest on the front of the booth to inform me better!!!!!!

I would love to know where your 3-5 minutes is coming from and perhaps while you are the sole pro voice for DAA/INIS you could explain why all 10 eGates never work or is it just an Irish 'sure be grand' thing. I resent having to queue so long to get back into my own country!

Under His Eye

Arriving passengers make no money for the DAA, so they couldn't give a fig about them.

California Dreamer

Under His Eye wrote: »

Arriving passengers make no money for the DAA, so they couldn't give a fig about them.

I must remember that the next time I pay €30 for a days parking!!! ;):D

trellheim

Welcome to a very long thread folks. You're not the first to point this out. DAA are useless. As they dont make money off inbounds they could not give a toss. T1 immigration hall a case in point. If it was a car park it'd get better service.

That said that does not excuse anything less than 100+% staffing from Inis when it is not unexpected what the busiest times of year are; some time ago it was confidently predicted on here that they had enough staff to deal.

NiMatihLiom

trellheim wrote: »

Welcome to a very long thread folks. You're not the first to point this out. DAA are useless. As they dont make money off inbounds they could not give a toss. T1 immigration hall a case in point. If it was a car park it'd get better service.

That said that does not excuse anything less than 100+% staffing from Inis when it is not unexpected what the busiest times of year are; some time ago it was confidently predicted on here that they had enough staff to deal.

INIS cannot have 100% staffing as they are understaffed. People have been leaving on promotion to other parts of justice/civil service on a continuous basis. New staff have been barely able to replace the people leaving, then they’ve been known to leave themselves fairly quickly. The conditions and facilities at the airport are so poor and the workload is ever increasing, staff retention is impossible and will probably get worse.
There’s not likely to be 100% staffing anytime soon.

trellheim

INIS cannot have 100% staffing as they are understaffed. People have been leaving on promotion to other parts of justice/civil service on a continuous basis. New staff have been barely able to replace the people leaving, then they’ve been known to leave themselves fairly quickly. The conditions and facilities at the airport are so poor and the workload is ever increasing, staff retention is impossible and will probably get worse.
There’s not likely to be 100% staffing anytime soon.

Thank you for that. It is not a surprise.

revenent

In response to the e-gates, none of the staff like them either, they tie up more officers at a slower rate then manned booths. Yes, when all 10 are working they are more efficient however all 10 rarely work. They were rushed In when they were not ready by someone not to far away on here. Staffing issues as previously posted will not be solved, look at news on new customs officers in anticipation for brexit, yet nothing for immigration. Still, not too many complaints on this thread recently despite "ever increasing passenger numbers"

trellheim

Still, not too many complaints on this thread recently despite "ever increasing passenger numbers"

Thanks for that -

Many people have given up posting because not a lot happens if you do post here - its always someone else's problem and innovative solutions are not trialled.

killbillvol2

trellheim wrote: »

Thanks for that -

Many people have given up posting because not a lot happens if you do post here - its always someone else's problem and innovative solutions are not trialled.

I'm curious. What exactly do you expect to happen in Dublin Airport as a result of posting on this internet forum?

revenent

killbillvol2 wrote: »

I'm curious. What exactly do you expect to happen in Dublin Airport as a result of posting on this internet forum?

Same as most other threads on here, it's an outlet. Mainly for frustrations but sometimes for positive opinions.

The Veteran

The Gates weren’t rushed in, if anything they took longer than they should have. There is an issue with the supplier but that is a contractual issue. Remember a pilot started in 2013 and ran until 2017. One of the suppliers to the pilot won the main contract; also the supplier to INIS supplies the UK, the dutch, the US, Australia, Belgium and a host of others.

The Gates carry out more checks than a manual desk and it has always been said (and more
Importantly known by all) that each transaction takes longer than at a manual desk. Of
Course, if the same level of document checking was carried out at the manual desk then it would be a fairer comparison.

In relation to 100% staffing - let’s be clear, the intention has never been to have every desk open at every hour - frankly there is no need for it. As I said the roster is designed for the schedule - 2 Units on duty from 05:00 to 02:00; three on from 14:00 to 17:00. In fact the only time one unit is on is from 02:00 to 05:00 when there are practically no arrivals due. Even with the “rush” from 05:00 to 05:30 or so; this time of the year, at least half of the arriving pax are transfers so the numbers presenting in T2 are quite small relatively speaking (approximately 25% of the T1 Ryanair rush hour from 23:30 to 00:30 to put it in context).

That said there was a staffing level agreed some years ago that was only reached in numbers terms in March\April of this year. There have been a lot of staff movement at all levels - there are no supervisors left at the airport who were there before May 2015; the management team has also changed since then in fact it has changed a couple of times in large part; never mind the turnover of officers.

The main T1 Hall is not fit for purpose; never said anything different but it is a fact that infrastructure is a matter for the daa to provide.

The reference to customs staffing levels versus immigration is interesting. This country has never been serious about immigration controls in my opinion. It took until 2016 to have systematic document scanning (and that is limited). Biometric controls are limited to the Gates. The opportunities offered by SIS II and the PNR Directive have not been exploited. The powers available to Customs also tell you that “money talks”.

Cal Dreamer - I do get your frustration but the place to highlight it is not here and not is it really directly to INIS; it is a political level - the Minister for Justice; the Minister for Transport etc. Speak to your local TD, ask them to ask Parlimentary Questions.

I have been surprised by how quiet this thread has been this Summer, it had sounded like all was well and there were no bad queuing experiences. I know the reality is different but you wouldn’t think it on here.

The Veteran

Cal Dreamer - one other point the 3 to 5 minutes statistic is based on daa figures compiled using the same system as compiles the security queue times (which is accepted by the Regulator as a robust system).

The Dept of Transport has regularly released that data (under Freedom if Information).

Nijmegen

The Veteran wrote: »

The reference to customs staffing levels versus immigration is interesting. This country has never been serious about immigration controls in my opinion. It took until 2016 to have systematic document scanning (and that is limited). Biometric controls are limited to the Gates. The opportunities offered by SIS II and the PNR Directive have not been exploited. The powers available to Customs also tell you that “money talks”.

My funniest trip through Dublin Airport immigration was in T1 many years ago, when the guy ahead of me was getting pushed through in a wheelchair. He went searching around his bag in his lap and his pockets looking for his passport, and the immigration officer leaned forward, said "Are ya Irish?" and when yer man replied "Yeah" he got waved through with a "G'wan."

Under His Eye

Simpler times back then.

steve-o

The Veteran wrote: »

Cal Dreamer - one other point the 3 to 5 minutes statistic is based on daa figures compiled using the same system as compiles the security queue times (which is accepted by the Regulator as a robust system).

The Dept of Transport has regularly released that data (under Freedom if Information).

The nonsense DoT "statistic" is this: "average queuing times for most passengers are approximately 3 minutes". What that means is that 50% queue an average of around 3 minutes (between 0 and 6 minutes). Which means the other 50% all wait 6 minutes or more.

Under His Eye

In all my years of using Dublin, I have never had to wait more than a minute to be processed by immigration.

The Veteran

The queue time data is available to all who seek it. We only ever really hear from those who have what they see as a bad experience - those who fly through are not as vocal. The three minutes is the reality for most. The journey time from aircraft to hall doesn’t count unless it is static.

Dublin has far shorter queues than comparable airports; that doesn’t alter the fact that some will experience peaks

Hotblack Desiato

revenent wrote: »

look at news on new customs officers in anticipation for brexit, yet nothing for immigration.

CTA passengers going through immigration anyway so Brexit of whatever flavour or even an end to the CTA isn't going to change anything there?

If they can't attract enough / sufficient quality of new staff and retain the new staff never mind the existing ones then isn't it obvious that public sector pay cuts need to be reversed. Leo and co. can't impose 'emergency measures' for 11 years out of one side of their mouth and out of the other talk about our booming economy (and booming cost of living...)

Noxegon

Under His Eye wrote: »

In all my years of using Dublin, I have never had to wait more than a minute to be processed by immigration.

You’re lucky. My partner (American with Irish residency) has waited 90 minutes.

I really wish GNIB cars holders could use the EU Gates.

killbillvol2

steve-o wrote: »

The nonsense DoT "statistic" is this: "average queuing times for most passengers are approximately 3 minutes". What that means is that 50% queue an average of around 3 minutes (between 0 and 6 minutes). Which means the other 50% all wait 6 minutes or more.

You really don't understand averages very well.

Kev11491

I've never had to wait more than 15mins to go through immigration coming into Dublin and most people I know have had a similar experience.

LXFlyer

The long queues tend to happen when flights are delayed and a significantly higher number of flights arrive than scheduled within a short time frame.

Beechwoodspark

Same here. Less than 5 mins usually.

I think what is happening is a lot of ppl remember the long walk from the airplane down the long corridor towards the immigration hall Which is a right pain in the ass when you are coming in late or tired and want to get home.

But when I actually get to the immigration border it usually is something like 1-3 minutes to get passed them. And often about ten seconds so no complaints here

Nijmegen

I do have to remark that almost every time I go abroad, the wait at immigration queues tend to be noticeably long every time. In Dublin it's an oddity. In general, both in and out Dublin airport is a pretty good experience.

trellheim

The long queues tend to happen when flights are delayed and a significantly higher number of flights arrive than scheduled within a short time frame.

This is nearly always at the end of the day, when delays are compounded. Bussing 20% of flights to the 300 gate immigrations would work ideally as a queue buster.

plodder

revenent wrote: »

In response to the e-gates, none of the staff like them either, they tie up more officers at a slower rate then manned booths. Yes, when all 10 are working they are more efficient however all 10 rarely work. They were rushed In when they were not ready by someone not to far away on here. Staffing issues as previously posted will not be solved, look at news on new customs officers in anticipation for brexit, yet nothing for immigration. Still, not too many complaints on this thread recently despite "ever increasing passenger numbers"

Compared to e-gates I've used in Germany, they seemed to me to be a lot less efficient in that they only process one person at a time, whereas the German ones read the passport details from one person while they do the image recognition of the person ahead. Also, a bigger problem (iirc) is that they are completely autonomous and you have to exit the machine and join another queue when the machine is not able to recognise you. The German ones just pass your details on to an officer who does the recognition the old way, without you leaving the machine. The problem there is if passengers get the impression that the machines are less reliable/slower then they won't want to use them. Not sure if that issue has been fixed, but it should be.

Having said all the above, I have to concede that for me, passport control delays were much less in Dublin than in any other European airport I've been to this year (in Germany, Denmark, Spain).

LXFlyer

trellheim wrote: »

This is nearly always at the end of the day, when delays are compounded. Bussing 20% of flights to the 300 gate immigrations would work ideally as a queue buster.

Exactly - it also doesn’t really help that the Ryanair Dublin based fleet return over a much shorter timeframe than the Aer Lingus shorthaul fleet - hence the risk of overcrowding is greater if there are delays.

Hotblack Desiato

killbillvol2 wrote: »

You really don't understand averages very well.

It's not an average if only 'most' passengers are included in it. Clearly a way to massage the figure downwards.

ohnonotgmail

Hotblack Desiato wrote: »

It's not an average if only 'most' passengers are included in it. Clearly a way to massage the figure downwards.

"What that means is that 50% queue an average of around 3 minutes"


If 'most' passengers have an average of 3 minutes then what you said is incorrect. 50% is not 'most'. Untill we know what percentage 'most' is comprised of there is little we can say other than it is more than 50%.

plodder

Hotblack Desiato wrote: »

It's not an average if only 'most' passengers are included in it. Clearly a way to massage the figure downwards.

More likely just poor wording. An average makes no sense at all, if it isn't based on an entire sample, rather than "most" of one.