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Periscope by Niall O'Dowd

New Dublin Airport terminal has big impact for American visitors

Posted on Wednesday, April 06, 2011 at 02:57 PM

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Read more: Terminal 2 at Dublin Airport - another huge joke?

The new Terminal 2 in Dublin Airport was going to change the travel experience to America for the better we were told.

The old, hopelessly overcrowded, Terminal One would give way to the modern, sleek and much faster process in Terminal Two,not to mention being able to pass through US Customs as well as immigration.

All in all a new and better experience was promised.

On balance that is a correct assumption.

Yes, it is a beautiful looking terminal with properly grouped shopping areas and what look like decent restaurants and reasonable prices.

But the distances between your various stop-off points is crazy.

When you check in you have to immediately go two floors higher to get to the entrance to the departure area --quite a walk if you are carrying heavy cabin baggage.

Remember to factor the extra walking time in for your flight as it takes quite a lot of extra time compared to the old check-in area that was only yards from the departure area.

Inside the new departure here are lots of fancy stores in the duty-free area and the newsagent is the British wholesaler W. H. Smith which does not seem to carry nearly as many Irish books as the old Hughes bookstores.

The entrance to the new area and the security section are an improvement, but there is an even bigger improvement at US immigration where they have (finally!) separated out the US citizens and Irish citizens, which obviously makes it much quicker if holding a US passport.

The lining up area is also much bigger than the old cramped quarters where you lined up for immigration.

Once through immigration you were able to board the plane under the old regime, but not this time.

You still have to pass customs, take your laptop out of its bag, have all your hand luggage screened, but mercifully you are not body screened personally again.

This is quite time consuming, so leave even more time for boarding your flight would be my best advice .

Finally, after another long walk you are at your gate destination. This too is a big improvement over the old cramped space where, if three flights were leaving together, the numbers of people were far too many for the crowded space.

So all in all a better overall experience, but be wary of the long time needed to get through , both to the departure area and the extra screening for customs.

The delight comes at the other end in New York when you emerge into the general terminal and do no have to face any more screenings.

All in all a better flying experience and the new terminal overall is a big improvement -- but leave more time to get there.

Read more: Terminal 2 at Dublin Airport - another huge joke?

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13 comments

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antoman | Apr 09, 2011, 06:44 AM EDT

Narrowback-I'd slap you on the back and say well played biy.But I'm afraid my hand would go through.

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bogsidebunny | Apr 09, 2011, 04:12 AM EDT

I went T-2 recently.......It's a typical "Irish solution to an Irish (perceived) problem........ALL SHOW AND NO GO! It took me twice as long to get from curbside to the jet-way area. Coming back was absolutely a riot. 4-American planes landed within 10-minutes of each other. The queue time at Irish Immigration was about 40-minutes. Give me back Terminal # 1 anytime and sell the glitz and Chrome "Temple of Incovience to DisneyLand!

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NARROWBACK | Apr 08, 2011, 08:46 PM EDT

antoman you might not be a mechanic but you are an idiot

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JBRAFTREE | Apr 08, 2011, 05:22 PM EDT

We'll see, but I'm still unhappy about having to land in Dublin when I'm going to the West. (I'm coming from Chicago.) If they lift the ban on Shannon Ireland would get a lot more tourists from the Midwestern States.

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hancock | Apr 08, 2011, 02:43 PM EDT

They may be slimmer not sexier though. Most are ugly with apparanty no dental plan.

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GeorgeDillon | Apr 08, 2011, 02:41 PM EDT

mizshell62--Good point. I checked in for a Continental flight around 6:30 a.m, with take-off set for 9 a.m. Yet at check-in we were told to go immediately to US Immigration. What's going on? Once more, Dublin Airport is treating passengers like garbage, even though we're paying big time to use their crap facility.

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GeorgeDillon | Apr 08, 2011, 02:37 PM EDT

I've used it. It's OK, but the one or two restaurants that are there are over-priced dumps. The day I was there the terminal was full of Indians and Arabs immigrating to Ireland, since there's a Middle Eastern airline that uses the terminal. No recession for those Indians, paks and Arabs--they just wave at the Irish who pass them by on the way to Departures and emigration. As if they are saying "We're in charge now, folks!"

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antoman | Apr 08, 2011, 01:58 PM EDT

Its antoman.I'm not a mechanic like.As for my comment.Ask any pilot and they'll tell you that they also ask how many of the passengers are American.They then take the number and double it because every American is double what an American was forty years ago.They take that into account when calculating how much fuel their going to need.So I'm speculating that the new terminal in Dublin causes American passengers to walk further than their European counterparts on account europeans are slimmer and sexier.

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mizshell62 | Apr 08, 2011, 12:54 PM EDT

Was there last week. We got there 3 hours early and by the time we got to the gate, they were boarding. Do NOT stop at the shops to poke around, you could miss your flight.

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longislander1940 | Apr 08, 2011, 12:22 PM EDT

AUTOMAN- what does your comment have to do with the new Dublin Airport??

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McNamara31 | Apr 08, 2011, 11:09 AM EDT

Dublin's new terminal is beautiful and the shops are great however I went through a month ago and it took 2 1/2 hrs hours between check in and clearing immigration before heading back to the states. It's great you do not have to pass through screening when you return to the US, however you pay for it in the extra time needed in Dublin.

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longfordlady | Apr 08, 2011, 09:51 AM EDT

We travelled through Dublin's new terminal on opening week. Yes it is sleek and modern, yes it is nice to get all the immigration stuff out of the way early, and we are travelling on US passports so it was a much shorter experience (much like flying through Shannon) But.... on this side of the ocean we had to make a connection - you can't fly anywhere straight any more! and therefore unable to purchase duty free Irish spirits ..... because before you treck up two flights (and get to the shops) you have already sent your bags to their final destination - and you can't carry a bottle of whatever adult beverage you choose from your trans-Atlantic flight to your domestic flight. ** and I sooooo wanted to bring back a bottle of Mead!

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antoman | Apr 08, 2011, 09:07 AM EDT

Obesity is a huge problem in America and airlines know this.Yet they refuse to update guidelines which are over thirty years old.They presume people are all slim and share the same boot size.When infact if you have one hundred people aboard you should double the figure and do the necessary fuel calculations.Fuel is expensive of course and alot more must be burned now to keep the obese aloft.So in an effort to save fuel and prevent aircraft ditching at sea from lack of it.People must walk and haul bags from a to b..like a donkey.

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