Flights in and out of Dublin airport continued to suffer delays today, but air traffic control operations have generally returned to normal, the Irish Aviation Authority (IAA) said.
The radar system at the airport broke down last Wednesday, resulting in a reduction in the number of flights air traffic controllers could safely handle. Thousands of passengers suffered delays on inbound and outbound flights from the middle of last week and through the weekend.
IAA spokeswoman Lilian Cassin said everything was “going well” today. “We are operating at a level where there have been a few delays. But not all delays in flights are due to IAA factors.”
Ms Cassin said some flight delays today may be due to other reasons, such as holding restrictions over London airspace. It was not possible to estimate what percentage of flight delays in and out of Dublin were down to air traffic control restrictions.
The IAA is expecting a report on Wednesday from Thales ATM, the French company that manufactures the radar equipment in use at Dublin airport. Minister for Transport Noel Dempsey said last week he would seek a full report on the breakdown from the IAA.
A spokeswoman for Aer Lingus, the second biggest carrier operating from Dublin airport, said the airline’s departing flights were delayed by 25 minutes on average, while incoming flights were delayed by about 30 minutes on average.
The Dublin Airport Authority said operations at the airport today were “pretty much back to normal”.
“Any delays within 15 minutes are not technically considered delays under guidelines,” a spokeswoman said.
Delayed outbound flights today included Aer Lingus flights to Zurich, Bordeaux, Amsterdam and Manchester. A Delta flight to Atlanta was delayed by just under two hours. Ryanair flights to Madrid and East Midlands airports were delayed by more than an hour each and an Air France flight to Paris Charles de Gaulle was delayed almost an hour and a half.
Up to date flight information is available at the Dublin Airport Authority website www.daa.ie, the IAA website at www.iaa.ie and from individual airlines.