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Dublin delays as new air traffic control system fails
by Jon Myles
THOUSANDS of travellers to and from Ireland are facing delays to their journeys because of problems with a new multi-million pound air traffic control system.
Flights in and out of Dublin could face disruption during this weekend’s June Bank Holiday in Ireland — traditionally one of the busiest times of the year for travel to and from Britain.
The warning came after faults in a new £76million air traffic control system were blamed for lengthy delays to around 200 flights using Dublin Airport last weekend.
The system assumed responsibility for all aircraft movement 10 days ago but quickly ran into problems handling the volume of traffic.
The new technology was temporarily replaced by the old system when the faults were spotted but teething problems have continued for flights into and out of Dublin Airport.
Aer Rianta estimated some 80 per cent of all flights taking off on Sunday were delayed by between five minutes and an hour — with the delays worsening as time went by due to the knock-on effect.
The Irish Aviation Authority which operates air traffic control over Ireland had warned the new system may have initial problems but many airlines were said to have been taken by surprise by the number of delays
An Aer Rianta spokeswoman said: “It is an Irish Aviation Authority induced problem.
“The IAA sat down with us and the airlines and told us they were introducing this system and that the new equipment might have teething troubles.
“It said there would be no danger to passengers but it was possible flights could be affected during the handover.”
And she admitted the airport had no indication when the problem would be resolved and was powerless to get the flights back on schedule.
Passenger Michael Carrick was caught up in the confusion as he waited for a flight to his home in Scotland after visiting relatives in Dublin.
He said: “It’s chaotic. People are milling around all over the place and no-one seems to know what is going on.
“Flights are being delayed all over the place and there’s a mass of people at the airport. You expect one or two delays but not to every flight.”
It is believed one of the faults saw the new system fail to identify the call signs of aircraft on controllers’ screens.
A second crew of air traffic controllers using the old system were immediately brought into action.
The system is already up and running at Shannon Airport where no problems have been reported.
The Irish Aviation Authority warned there may still be delays to flights coming into Dublin Airport over the Bank Holiday weekend - one of the busiest periods of the year.
Its Head of Strategy Denis Hegarty said the new system was being introduced on a phased basis to minimise disruption.
“There are some delays and we regret that,” he said.
“There have been some delays of about half an hour but in some cases it has risen to about two hours. There have been some introduction problems.
“We’ve planned this with the airlines and Aer Rianta and they’ve known about it for some time.
“There may well be some delays next weekend. We have a very good system and it will be fully operational by the summer.”
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