‘Hellish queue’ stretches a mile out of Dublin airport after thousands miss weekend flights

Dublin airport passengers face chaotic queues this morning, with the bag drop line winding outside the airport before the sun had even come up.

Early morning footage shows hundreds of travellers queuing for the Terminal 2 Aer Lingus baggage drop.

The queue stretches down the departure hall, through the airport doors, and alongside the building.

"[The bag drop queue] grew exponentially while we were in it. It was the hunger games out there," one passenger warned.

The video follows a week of severe disruption for the airport. On Sunday, more than 1,000 passengers missed flights due to queues and a lack of airport staff.

As passenger numbers surge across Europe, Dublin airport has struggled to cope.

The chaos peaked on Sunday, when 50,000 travellers descended on the airport.

Early in the morning, the airport warned passengers that “significant queues” for check-in, bag drop, and security screening could cause them to miss their flights.

“Passengers queueing outside the terminal may not make their flight and may need to contact their airline to rebook,” a tweet from Dublin Airport read.

“We sincerely apologise for the obvious frustration and inconvenience this may cause.”

More than 1,000 travellers missed their flights while waiting in snaking lines.

Customers took to social media to label the queues a “disgrace,” “bedlam,” and “the worst we’ve ever seen.”

“I’ve been queuing for hours, definitely going to miss my flight, holidays ruined” one user tweeted.

Dublin airport has been hit by staff shortages. About 1,000 airport workers have accepted voluntary redundancy since September 2020, at the height of the pandemic.

The reduced staff numbers have struggled to cope with the bounce-back in traveller numbers this summer.

On Monday, the