AER LINGUS has postponed the transfer of transatlantic flights to Terminal 2 at Dublin airport until the new year as US customs and border protection authorities have decided not to open their facilities there before January.
This delay will also affect US carriers that plan to use T2. US customs will allow departing passengers to clear US immigration, customs and agriculture controls in Dublin.
“The United States customs and border protection authorities have indicated they will transfer operations into Terminal 2 in the new year and we have realigned our transition plans to reflect this,” Aer Lingus said yesterday.
Aer Lingus will begin using T2 through a programme of “proving flights”, starting either today or tomorrow. The new facility will be officially opened on Friday by Taoiseach Brian Cowen.
Neither Aer Lingus nor the Dublin Airport Authority would comment yesterday on which flight would be the first to use T2.
However it was confirmed that Etihad Airways would operate the first scheduled flights from T2 to Abu Dhabi from November 23rd.
All Aer Lingus passengers will continue to check in at the existing terminal building until the new year. Passengers flying from T2 will then be escorted to the new building for their flights.
Aer Lingus and the airport authority are taking a conservative approach to the opening of the new facility. Aer Lingus said its programme of proving flights would enable it to “ensure a smooth transition of its operations from Terminal 1 to Terminal 2 in January, avoiding the Christmas holiday period when the airport is traditionally very busy”.
The airport authority said it “continues to work with its airline customers, ground handlers and Irish and US state agencies to ensure a smooth ramp-up of services from T2”.
When open, T2 will be home to Aer Lingus’s entire operation at the airport and will handle flights operated by Etihad and US carriers.