Airports not to blame for chaos, says sector boss

• Published date: 24 June 2022

Javier Marín, president of Airports Council International Europe (ACI), told the organisation's conference yesterday that demand for travel beat expectations while businesses in the sector struggled with labour shortages

Dublin Airport is racing to hire security officers as Irish people head overseas following two years of restrictions, while ground-handling and other service businesses also confess that they face staff shortages. Bottlenecks in airports across Europe, including London, Amsterdam and Paris, have forced airlines to cancel some flights.

Asked if the industry could have been better prepared, Mr Marín said: "I honestly do not think so."

He argued that governments gave airports little notice of decisions to lift restrictions, so they had little time to ensure they had the resources to cope with increased demand for travel.

Mr Marín, who oversees 47 airports across Spain for Aena, including Malaga and Ibiza, noted that aviation was no longer considered to be as attractive an employer as it was in the past.

"When you look at ground handling in particular, we have to find a better balance between competitiveness and the social sustainability of the employment on offer," he said.

He argued that many of those airports worst hit received little financial support during the pandemic, or had faced pressure from airlines and regulators to cut their charges before COVID struck.

Passenger charges

Addressing the conference in Rome, Mr Marín pointed out that Irish regulators were among...