DUBLIN AIRPORT has been fined for delays to passengers passing through security and consumer dissatisfaction with phone and e-mail facilities in the terminal.
The fines imposed by the Commission for Aviation Regulation are relatively small, amounting to less than 1 cent per passenger passing through the airport next year.
Based on current passenger traffic of about 20 million a year, this would amount to €200,000.
Under a quality service monitoring scheme introduced by the regulator this year, the Dublin Airport Authority must ensure that passengers spend less than 30 minutes in the queue for security.
On 10 dates in the first five months of the year, the queue lasted 20 to 30 minutes.
On May 15th, a queue of 34 minutes was recorded, triggering a reduction of 0.05 per cent of the authority’s price cap per passenger, which currently stands at €8.93.
The airport failed to meet two of the 13 service measures in the quality scheme.
Aside from the delay in security, it scored 2.99 on an index of passenger satisfaction with communications, telecom and e-facilities, below the target of 3.1.
As a result, the price cap for this year is being reduced by 0.0625 per cent.
On six dates, the airport failed to meet the 30-minute target for the delivery of outbound luggage to ground handlers.
However, no penalty was imposed because systems were not disrupted or because planned maintenance was being carried out.
The airport reached its targets for cleanliness, comfort, staff courtesy and overall satisfaction.
Passenger complaints about airlines fell by one-quarter last year, the commission also revealed yesterday.
Some 311 complaints were received in 2009, compared to 413 the year before.
The figures relate to the period before the volcanic ash cloud caused major disruption to flights earlier this year, but even this event has prompted fewer complaints than originally expected, according to a spokesman.
Complaints about cancellation fell 23 per cent and there were 60 per cent fewer complaints about long delays.
However, complaints from passengers about being denied boarding grew three-fold.
Ryanair accounted for 42 of the complaints investigated by the Irish authorities, compared to 35 against Aer Lingus.
Other airlines accounted for the remaining 36 complaints.
The rest of the 311 complaints received by the commission largely fell to be investigated in other EU states, where the flights involved originated.