An Irish travel expert has warned about the potential of '10 hour' delays at Irish airports if travel concerns and uncertainties about regulations and guidelines are not addressed.
On Sunday morning, Eoghan Corry, Editor of Air and Travel magazine, appeared on Newstalk and outlined his worries.
Mr Corry said: "There’s a lot to be worked through, including that issue of delays at the airport.
"It’s not a big international problem but it certainly became a big Heathrow problem — I do think we are concentrating very heavily on what’s happening in England when we should be looking to other countries and how their travel is opening up."
Corry adds: "If we have a two-metre distancing requirement for a queue, what would have happened in 2019 in peak summer, we would have 102, 104, 106 adjoining gates of Ryanair flights taking off within a 10 or 15-minute period, that’s a queue of one kilometre for people to board if you’re boarding at the same level."
"The same would be happening at arrivals when you have passport control and extra checks which are in place to make sure people are certified."
Recent reports state that ministers were briefed about the possibility of 10-hour delays in Dublin Airport, causing passengers to wait on planes.
Mr Corry noted that the reasons for these delays could be social distancing regulations and additional documentation requirements for anyone that plans on travelling.
As announced on Friday, international travel will resume on July 19, following the implementation of the European Union’s digital green certificate system.
The current government advice is to avoid non-essential international travel. Depending on the prevailing public health situation at the time, Ireland will operate the EU Digital COVID Certificate (DCC) for travel originating within the EU/EEA from July 19.
