Dublin Airport has published an update on its ongoing work to replace scanning equipment across its two terminals.
Around a third of the airport’s 30+ existing x-ray scanners have now been replaced by new generation C3 scanners in partnership with Smiths Detection Ltd.
All scanners at Dublin’s Terminal 2 are scheduled to be replaced by this October, but the airport’s managing director Gary McLean said that the rollout at Terminal 1 “will take a little longer, with some reconfiguration works required to accommodate the new scanners, which are much bigger and heavier than the existing scanning machines”.
McLean added that “By the end of May we’ll have four C3 scanners operational in T1 and then with a very busy summer ahead, installation works will pause for the months of June, July and August, before resuming in September”.
The airport said that it was on track to replace all scanners across both terminals by October 2025, ahead of the regulatory deadline of 31 December next year.
The rollout will eventually allow all passengers to leave liquids and laptops inside their cabin bags at security, and to carry larger bottles of liquids with them – but until then customers should adhere to current rules as “there’s no guarantee that you will be selected for a screening lane which has a new C3 scanner”.
The update follows the recent announcement by the UK’s Department for Transport that it has granted extensions to some airports which have yet to finishing installing new-generation CT scanners, effectively abandoning the previous June 2024 deadline.
Meanwhile Dublin Airport said that it would unveil “another suite of improvements in its terminals ahead of summer 2024, based on passenger feedback”.
The move follows reports earlier this month that a woman was asked to remove her mastectomy breast prosthesis after setting off a new security scanner alarm at the airport.
“We’re always listening to passengers to find out what we can do better at Dublin Airport,” said McClean. “When something goes wrong or is not working as well as it can, we want to address it quickly.”
“That was very much the case last week when it was identified that a number of passengers with medical ailments had encountered issues at security screening.
“We very much regret those incidents and have immediately taken steps, including additional training for frontline staff, which will prevent these issues happening again.”
