Dublin Airport Parking

Wishbone Ash

(Mods - If you think that this may be more appropriate to Travel and Holidays, please feel free to move).



The DAA activated their new parking ticket machines and paystations on Friday night/Saturday morning last.

Tickets for the short term car parks are now issued at the actual entrance to the multi-storey (A,B or C) or surface parking facilities. Prior to that, they were dispensed at the gantry on entry to the rear of the mulit-storey general area.

Parking fee must be paid in advance before returning to your vehicle. It is no longer possible to pay the cashier at the exit. New pay stations are available at several locations.

It is now possible to enter and exit the rear of the short term car parks without requiring a ticket. This is particularly useful for dropping off passengers when the departure road is congested.

Some changes have been made to the Long Term shuttle-bus stops. Pay Stations are now available at some Long Term Stops.

The Long Term Green stop is now to the left of the exit from central mall.
The Long Term Blue stop is now to the right of the exit from the central mall.
The QuickPark stop remains where is was.
The Long Term Red stop remains, for the time being, on the arrivals road.

The Courtesy Bus areas have been divided in to Courtesy Area One and Two.

Courtesy Area One serves the Great Southern and Clarion Hotels and is located in the central median of the arrivals area (beside the taxi rank).

Courtesy Area Two is in the coach park beside the church. It serves Bewley's Hotel, Crowne Plaza Hotel, Hilton Hotel, Roganstown Country Club, The Tulip Inn, Day's Hotel and the Carlton Hotel.

Dingatron

Very suprised it was introduced before Christmas given the amount of traffic passing through. Hope it goes trouble free.

Dub13

Any change to the Dublin bus stops...?

Wishbone Ash

Dub13 wrote:

Any change to the Dublin bus stops...?

Not yet.

Dingatron wrote:

Very suprised it was introduced before Christmas given the amount of traffic passing through. Hope it goes trouble free.

In fairness to the DAA, they had loads of staff around manning each entrance/exit. The now defunct red paystations still had a big flashing sign "Please Pay Here" so in true DAA style, they employed someone to stand under it and tell passengers to ignore it. :rolleyes:

Little pic of new paystations:

AlekSmart

YIKES !!!.....Are they Sheidt & Bachmann machines ???????????????? :eek:

Dingatron

AlekSmart wrote:

YIKES !!!.....Are they Sheidt & Bachmann machines ???????????????? :eek:

Why the YIKES !!! ?

AlekSmart

Ah well....at least you wont see your Luas chuggin away from the platform as you w a i t for it to complete the ticket sale process.

CtrlSource

AlekSmart wrote:

Ah well....at least you wont see your Luas chuggin away from the platform as you w a i t for it to complete the ticket sale process.

Yep, the public transport options to & from the airport are STILL rather limited!

therecklessone

Dingatron wrote:

Very suprised it was introduced before Christmas given the amount of traffic passing through. Hope it goes trouble free.

Parked at 6.30am yesterday, left after 8pm. Got charged €8.50, God knows why...:D

There was a problem with the only exit barrier from Block B so there was a long queue to exit, when I got to the barrier there was a ticket stuck in it and the car park operators were lifting the barrier for each individual car.

Victor

Dub13 wrote:

Any change to the Dublin bus stops...?

I understand they will be moving to the far side of the multi-storey car aprk soon. Airlink buses may stay at the main entrance as they are the only wheelchair accessible service.

AlekSmart wrote:

YIKES !!!.....Are they Sheidt & Bachmann machines ???????????????? :eek:

I suppose they're Sheidt are they?

Wishbone Ash

therecklessone wrote:

Parked at 6.30am yesterday, left after 8pm. Got charged €8.50, God knows why

It sounds as if someone inadvertently set the ticket machine at the entrance to Block B to the long term rate (€8.50 is the daily long term rate).

Wishbone Ash

AlekSmart wrote:

YIKES !!!.....Are they Sheidt & Bachmann machines ???????????????? :eek:

Victor wrote:

I suppose they're Sheidt are they?

It's actually "Scheidt" http://www.scheidt-bachmann.com/

OTK

a couple of questions about dub airport for those in the know.

What is the story with short term A? For years it's being marked full, but I noticed people pulling a dodgy hairpin turn to get into it. I've always parked there since and there are always places free and closer to the terminal than the others. What's the deal? Is this meant for the golden circle? And has this changed now?

Also where is motorbike parking?

Is it OK to pick up taxis from departures by getting one that's just unloaded a fare?

Can you get into the short business class security queue if you're checked in for a flight that's departing soon and you don't think you'll make it through the normal queue in time?

why are there clearly abandoned cars (very dusty etc) in the short term carparks? is this not a security hazard?

The twisty car ramp on the side of the airport... does this lead to a car park? If so who gets to use it?

Dingatron

What is the story with short term A? For years it's being marked full, but I noticed people pulling a dodgy hairpin turn to get into it. I've always parked there since and there are always places free and closer to the terminal than the others. What's the deal? Is this meant for the golden circle? And has this changed now?

The top level used to be solely for Golden Circle users. They took the barrier down a good while ago and you'll usually get a space in there somewhere. Don't tell anyone!

Also where is motorbike parking?

Not sure tbh?

Is it OK to pick up taxis from departures by getting one that's just unloaded a fare?

People do but as far as I know taxi pickups are not allowed probably due to an agreement with the airport taxi's.

Can you get into the short business class security queue if you're checked in for a flight that's departing soon and you don't think you'll make it through the normal queue in time?

Again you are not transfer/business class and maybe possibly on an internal flight, you cannot use this area. Then again chance your arm and see what happens.

why are there clearly abandoned cars (very dusty etc) in the short term carparks? is this not a security hazard?

They have to be left for a period of time before being deemed abandoned. From time to time they are disposed of.

The twisty car ramp on the side of the airport... does this lead to a car park? If so who gets to use it?

This leads to the old level 4 and 5 carparks. Most of it is now office space but there is still some parking for airport police and senior managers. It was closed to the public as it was seen as a security threat back in the 70's.

OTK

Good answers!
Final airport question: at which hotel do SAS air hostesses stay?

Dingatron

I'm afraid that is classified information my friend.

therecklessone

OTK wrote:

Good answers!
Final airport question: at which hotel do SAS air hostesses stay?

Probably the Sands Hotel so they don't have to hobble too far for Grab a Granny Night in Tamangos...have you seen how old they are? The Swedes don't call SAS Jurassic Park for nothing...:D

Wishbone Ash

OTK wrote:

What is the story with short term A? For years it's being marked full, but I noticed people pulling a dodgy hairpin turn to get into it

It's marked full to encourage people to go further in and use B or C rather than cause congestion with everyone attempting to find a space there (human nature being what it is!).

OTK wrote:

Also where is motorbike parking?

I don't think there is dedicated motorbike parking. There are dozens of bikes parked at any time parked around the edges of Block A particularly near the exits to the central mall.

OTK wrote:

Is it OK to pick up taxis from departures by getting one that's just unloaded a fare?

A lot of people do that but I'm not sure if it's strictly above board. A couple of friends who are taxi drivers always advise people to do that

OTK wrote:

why are there clearly abandoned cars (very dusty etc) in the short term carparks? is this not a security hazard?

Unfortunately lots of people dispose of their car by placing it in Dublin Airport,short or long term carparks. The DAA usually do a clean out once a year. The parking regulations state that a vehicle must be claimed within 3 months unless special arrangements are made.

OTK wrote:

The twisty car ramp on the side of the airport... does this lead to a car park? If so who gets to use it?

It was intended as the original short term carpark but, as Dingatron has said, it was abandoned for security reasons. When it opened, things had began to heat up in Northern Ireland and the authorities feared a loyalist car bomb would bring down the terminal.

Dingatron wrote:

still some parking for airport police

I thought they parked around the back at the fire station?

Dingatron

Quote:
Originally Posted by Dingatron
still some parking for airport police
I thought they parked around the back at the fire station?

The Airport Police Fire Service do park beside ATC but some of the Airport Police have parking on level 4. The police service was broken in two (Fire/Police) a few years ago whereas before you could be assigned to either service for a period of time now they are either police or fire service.

Bluetonic

Wishbone Ash wrote:

A lot of people do that but I'm not sure if it's strictly above board. A couple of friends who are taxi drivers always advise people to do that

I've recently seen taxi drives pulled over for it.

Taxis are available for hire only at the taxi rank located outside the Arrivals Building. It is an offence for taxi drivers to offer taxis for hire to passengers within the Terminal building.

http://www.dublinairport.com/to-and-from/by-taxi/

Wishbone Ash

Bluetonic wrote:

I've recently seen taxi drives pulled over for it

I think OTK was referring to passengers approaching taxis who are dropping off others on the departures road, rather than taxi drivers touting for business inside the terminal.

Dingatron

Touting or otherwise it is an offence. The Carriage Office monitor it from time to time although as said they do pick up on depatures.

Wishbone Ash

Dingatron wrote:

The Carriage Office monitor it

Presumably it's now within the remit of the Taxi Regulator http://www.taxiregulator.ie/ although the DAA's site still provides a link to the Carriage Office.

AlekSmart

Victor rermarked...."understand they will be moving to the far side of the multi-storey car aprk soon. Airlink buses may stay at the main entrance as they are the only wheelchair accessible service."

Excellent thread this.

It has always been a sore point with me that Mr O Sullivans splendid Aircoach concept was allowed to commence operations in such recent times without ANY disability access provisions being required of them.

I have often heard Media Dahlings referring to Aircoach as an Airport BUS service which it certainly is NOT.

I had wrongly assumed that ALL new licenced services in the State would be required to have an element of Disability Access but obviously the Aircoach proponents were somewhat more agile in their licence application.

RainyDay

AlekSmart wrote:

I had wrongly assumed that ALL new licenced services in the State would be required to have an element of Disability Access but obviously the Aircoach proponents were somewhat more agile in their licence application.

Section 27 of the Disability Act 2005 obliges all public bodies to ensure that 'goods or services that are supplied to it are accessible to people with disabilities unless it would not be practicable or justifiable on cost grounds or would result in an unreasonable delay'. I don't know if a service licensed by a public body (such as DAA) would be considered to a service supplied to it under the Act. Complaints of non-compliance with the Act can be made to the public body concerned and can be appealed to the Ombudsman after investigation.

Wishbone Ash

AlekSmart wrote:

Aircoach concept was allowed to commence operations in such recent times without ANY disability access provisions being required of them...... ...... obviously the Aircoach proponents were somewhat more agile in their licence application.

Well they did suffer the ignominy of being assigned a bus stop on the right hand side (Stop No. 5) resulting in the extra expense of specifying each vehicle with an off-side centre door. All other airport buses load and unload on the nearside.

AlekSmart wrote:

Mr O Sullivans splendid Aircoach

He sold 90% of it to First (www.firstgroup.com/ ) a few years ago.

ZENER

Wishbone Ash wrote:

Not yet.

In fairness to the DAA, they had loads of staff around manning each entrance/exit.

Despite the ill timed (in the opinion of many airport staff) roll out of these new Designa Carpark System just a few days before Christmas, everything has gone surprisingly well.

Any outages were due more to pure volume for the time of year and lack of knowledge on the part of customers and staff than any bad failures of the equipment. The system is (or at least will be when fully implemented) similar to that installed in the Dundrum Center.

The system is capable of number plate recognition and credit card entry-exit which is currently in the training stage but active. So if the car reg does not match the reg recorded on the ticket you will not be able to exit without the controllers intervention. The former means that feigning a lost ticket will no longer reap any rewards for "tryers" - you've been warned - you know who you are !!

The new paystations hold a lot more change than the previous ones and can also issue a ticket if you have lost one although there are problems yet to be ironed out with this feature.

As for only one exit at Block B: it is planned to move the Gold Circle and Season Card holders to the top 2 levels of this block which will be accessed via Block C with the bottom level of Block B being reserved purely for Disabled Parking - the more observant of you will already have noticed that all spaces in Block B level 1 are marked with the blue disabled symbol. Hence there is only one entry and exit machine at this block.

The now defunct red paystations still had a big flashing sign "Please Pay Here" so in true DAA style, they employed someone to stand under it and tell passengers to ignore it. :rolleyes:

You could be forgiven for this assumption (:rolleyes: ), but as I've already explained to literally hundreds already, there are several thousand customers who departed the airport prior to the new system being switched on who still have their old RED - GREEN or BLUE zone long term parking tickets. These tickets can only be used in the old ZEAG Pay Machines which are located in the Atrium. These will be taken away over the next month to be replaced with new Designa paystations. Oh, and the signs don't "flash" !!

I also must stress to car, minibus and coach drivers that there are
NO CASHIERS and NO Paystations at the old EXIT building. The old entries and exit building will be dismantled and taken away to make room for Terminal 2 and other road widening projects.

At the moment it's a little confusing when you drive in where you should go, but when finished the road will naturally guide you to the correct park. The departures road congestion will be greatly eased with the new system, as pointed out above you no longer need to take a ticket and pay if you are just picking up or dropping off.

ZEN

Wishbone Ash

ZENER wrote:

You could be forgiven for this assumption (:rolleyes: ), but as I've already explained to literally hundreds already, there are several thousand customers who departed the airport prior to the new system being switched on

Fair point ZENER, I didn't think of that.

PS - Re LT Red - while the DAA have always discouraged paying for Car Park 3 in the car park, can it still be done? The machines are still there. Also, is there still a cashier at the barrier now?

ZENER

The new machines are capable of taking the old tickets and issueing a new ticket to allow exit but as I've pointed out there are problems with this feature. There is a delay of 30 or 40 seconds in validating the tickets so people panick and request assistance therefore blocking the machine for several minutes. It wasn't considered important as these old tickets will be gone within a couple of weeks anyway.

There isn't a cashier at the exit of Car Park 3 (RED) anymore, there never was at the Green or Blue zone, but the intercoms do now work so you can talk to a controller and get assistance. EDIT: Sorry to asnwer your question YES there are paystations in the RED LT park. The old stations are still there (explained above) but will be removed over the next couple of weeks. It's advisable though to pay the fee either in the baggage hall (4 machines - credit card only) or at the 8 available about the atrium just incase those in the LT RED are U/S.

Another thing that people may not realise - there are video cameras in ALL paystations and enrty/exit machines - there are also courses on body language being provided to all staff . . . . .

ZEN