DAA seeks extension to US custom facility at Dublin Airport

Dublin Airport operator DAA has lodged a planning application to expand its customs pre-clearance and border protection (CBP) facility for US-bound passengers as it “currently experiences chronic congestion and requires immediate expansion”.

Underlining the strain on the existing CBP facilities in Dublin Airport, planning consultants for the operator, Coakley O’Neill, told Fingal County Council that the CBP overflow queuing system needed to be used five out of every seven days in the summer of 2022 and is projected to be used even more this summer.

The consultants said the overflow queuing system was “technically and logistically complex and cumbersome” and affected other parts of Pier 4 including the gates for arrivals and departures to non-US destinations and “even affects the link between Pier 4 and the main T2 building itself”.

Coakley O’Neill added the overflow queuing system was “inefficient and confusing for passengers with US-bound and rest-of-world-bound passengers frequently becoming concerned about getting through security to board their flights on time”.

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They said the overflow queuing system was “also labour-intensive”.

The consultants said 1.7 million passengers were projected to use the CBP facility in 2023, which is a 13 per cent increase on the number of people who used the facility in 2022.

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“It is therefore the case that the current CBP facility does not have the capacity to cater for the existing passengers,” the consultants said.

The planning documents with the application said “passenger experience, as well as staff wellbeing, will therefore undoubtedly be improved” by the proposed expanded CBP building.

Coakley O’Neill said the proposed development was “undeniably needed to ensure the efficient, comfortable and safe operation of the CBP facility at Dublin Airport”.

The CBP facilities at Dublin and Shannon airports allow US-bound passengers to undertake all US immigration, customs and agriculture inspections at the airports before departure.