Dublin Flights

This transportation tip saved my day in 2009 and maybe it can be of some use for you. I still consider it among the most valuable tips on my page.

If you are connecting onto another flight in Dublin and travel with hand-luggage only, there is a way to skip the queues at security control. For that, you’ll have to be in possession of a borading pass already. After you have passed immigration clearance (which you have to pass, even if arriving from the UK), you will find yourself in the baggage claim area. Instead of going outside and upstairs again, head to baggage belt No. 1 (facing the exit, it is the one far right). Next to it, you’ll find a stair which will lead you up to a security control lane where you’ll find no queues. Soon you’ll find yourself again in the security area where you’ll just have to look out for your gate.

What is the secret? Of course, not all connecting passengers travel with hand luggage only or are already checked in. Those have to use the same security check areas as the passengers leaving from Dublin. Another factor is the bad signposting in the baggage claim area. There are few signs pointing out this way so that even passengers who can use it are not able to find it.

In my case, I had only one hour to get my onward flight and as I was a self-connecting passenger, it was my responsibility to get to the gate on time. Elsewhere, I would not be entitled to any refunds. I rushed through the airport from one gate to another within less than fifteen minutes. In addition to the early arrival of my Ryanair flight, I even had time for a Guinness before boarding.

There is only one airport in Dublin.

It is well linked to the city centre by bus so take the best airfare you can get (no need to worry about landing in a field in the middle of nowhere!!!) & come to visit this great city!!!

The two Irish airlines worth checking out for fares are:
www.aerlingus.com
www.ryanair.com
Of course your own country's airlines may offer better deals so shop around!!!

The Dublin International Airport or "Aerfort Bhaile Átha Cliath" is actually located in Collinstown, Ireland - not Dublin. It was instituted in the early 1930's. It is however operated and managed by the Dublin Airport Authority. It is located in the Fingal part of County Dublin and is about a 20-30 minute bus ride to Dublin's city center being approximately 10 km (6.2 miles) away. The Dublin Airport hosts over 20 million passengers a year (2009 estimates). It is the busiest airport in the Republic of Ireland, followed by Cork and Shannon. The transportation to and from the Dublin Airport is by bus, taxi, car, or foot (not recommended). It also has in development a underground railway line called "Metro North" that will connect it to Swords and Dublin City Center in the near future. It is also the headquarters of Ireland's flag carrier Aer Lingus, Europe's largest no-frills airline Ryanair & Ireland's domestic, CityJet (based in Swords) and the regional airline Aer Arann. There are over 50 daily departures from Dublin to all of London's airports which is busiest route in the world after Hong Kong - Tapei. There are 30+ daily departures to other UK locations. US Legacy Carriers also serve the airport from major US hubs. The Dublin Airport is also one of the only two European airports that have U.S. border preclearance services along with Shannon.
The original international style passenger terminal was completed in 1941. In 1936 Ireland's Government established the civil airline "Aer Lingus" first as a military aerodrome 'Casement Aerodrome' at Baldonnel to the south of Dublin - then established as a civil airport to replace Baldonnel as the city's airport. The first flight from the airport took place on January 19, 1940 to Liverpool, England. The terminal building was done by architect Desmond FitzGerland and was heavily influenced by designs used on luxury ocean liners at the time. It was awarded the Triennial Gold Medal of the Royal Hibernian Institute of Architects and is now a listed building. With World War II, services were restricted at airport until late 1945. Three new runways were constructed by 1947. The Airport saw major growth in the 1950's with construction of Runway extensions, terminal enhancements, and new services - including British European Airways, Sabena, and BKS. The 60's saw advancement with technological improvements and by the 70's were receiving numerous Boeing 737's, BAC One-Elevens, Boing 707s, and Hawker Siddeley Tridents. 1993 was when the Republic of Ireland and the U.S. Government signed a bilateral agreement to allow airlines to operate some direct transatlantic services for the first time to/from Dublin Airport instead of touching down en route at Shannon, even though Airlines have to still provide an equal number of flights either to or through Shannon as to Dublin. When Ireland hit its "Celtic Tiger" Economy, the airport hit a growth spurt between 1990-2000 based on a demand for business travel to and from the country with an increase in inward tourism. Also with Ireland being one of the only three European Union countries to open its borders freely to workers fro mthe ten accession states of the Union in 2004 - a increase of hundreds of thousands of people moving to Ireland via the airlines took place. Very ambitious expansion plans are in effect for the Dublin airport including new routes to North America and the Middle East. 2007 saw Open Skies agreements between the U.S. and the E.U. became ratified. In my arrival off Continental from the U.S. and my departure from Dublin to Bristol on RyanAir - I found the airport easy to navigate and able to find my gates. There were not many power plugs for laptops that I could find, but other services seemed abundant. Public transportation from the airport to the city center was affordable and easy to find. The Car Park also has a left luggage (luggage drop off to store) and its conveniently right across from arrivals. 6.5 Euro a day. Dublin was a good experience. Rating: 3.7 stars out of 5.

Check-in is very easy in the airport, there are many check-in machines which are easy to operate. You won't need much time here. But after check-in make sure you go to the security checks in time.

The security in Dublin Airport is very strict and takes a long time. It's one bag only and you have to take out any umbrella and open it.

It's also a long walk to the new terminal for flights to Germany, so make sure to check in early enough.After check-in it took us more than 45 minutes to the gate, the line at security was very long.

Don't automatically assume that RyanAir is the cheapest airline. Air Lingus had better fares than Ryanair, and an additional plus was that they leave from Frankfurt airport, which is much closer to Mannheim than Hahn airport used by Ryanair. So I booked our flight with Air Lingus.

They allow 6 kg for carry-on and they mean it: One of our party had 6,4 kg and he had to repack. Airlines are getting really strict about the weight limit.

Usually I don't care where I sit in a plane, but as a group of six we wanted to sit together. So I paid for assigned seats, 3 Euro per seat.

I was a little bit disappointed that the plane looked like any other plane, the last time I had flown Air Lingus - many years ago - the plane had wall paper with shamrocks. I had really liked it.

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I will always try my hardest to get to any city in the world on American Airlines. They are my choice airline where I have status that makes my flying experience so much more enjoyable.

My first trip to Dublin was a business trip and although my company uses United for all business trips I was able to convince my employer to pay for my ticket on American Airlines because I would fly coach instead of United business. I did this because I had arranged for Ferni to meet me in Dublin and we would return together. Thank goodness my boss is very accommodating and agreed to allow me to fly American Airlines (just this trip).

American Airlines has service to Dublin via Chicago O'Hare on what seems to be one scheduled flight a day 6 days a week. Not a great option if you're flight is cancelled (sigh), but if you have status like I do, you will probably opt to go this route.

The flight is about 6-7 hours long, depending on the direction of the winds. Service is good and the flight attendants are usually quite friendly and helpful which makes any flight enjoyable.

For those of you coming from the UK and using 353 car hire.

a) they have by far the longest queue (took me half an hour to get to the front)

b) I booked online in advance through a 3rd party website, and finally when I got to the front of the queue was told that my Credit Card and Drivers License was not enough. They require the 'endorsements' section (for UK only) of the license. And they aren't polite about it either.

This is your typical wannabe big but isn't airport. I did find the wait times to be small and the basic selection of shopping to be ok. Sadly Aer Lingus is no longer One World and the club does not recognize AA status even though they still codeshare flights.

One very good point about this airport is that US Immigration is downstairs in the one set of gates and you clear it before you board instead of having to do it upon arrival in the States. This allows smoother connections if need be when you get there.