Flights resume at Dublin Airport after fire in hangar

Flight operations have resumed at Dublin Airport after a fire broke out in a hangar on Wednesday.

Services were delayed for up to two hours as a result and about 60 flights were affected during the suspension of 90 minutes.

Eight flights were cancelled and 10 flights were diverted Shannon and Belfast airports.

The DAA, formerly the Dublin Airport Authority, said the blaze, which broke out on the roof of the building, had been contained by fire fighters within the hour.

A spokeswoman said they were alerted to the fire about 7.15am .

There were no injuries and all staff were immediately evacuated, according to the authority.

The DAA is advising passengers intending to travel on Wednesday to check the status of their flights with airlines.

An Aer Lingus spokeswoman said the airline had cancelled two return flights from Dublin Airport to London and Gatwick.

She said a number of flights had been diverted to Shannon and Belfast airports, two from Boston and New York and some short haul flights.

Ms Culhane said there were delays of up to 70 minutes but people should come to the airport as normal.

“There’ll be knock on delays for the day,” she said.

The fire occurred in hangar three, which is located in a restricted area of the airport separate from the passenger facilities.

The hangar is used for maintenance and two aircraft were in it at the time when the fire broke out.

Cancelled flights

Passengers at the airport said they were confused as to how long their flights would be delayed for and were checking social media for updates.

Most people at the airport, who had not seen the fire near terminal one, had no idea why their flights were delayed.

People queued for more than two hours at the customer service desk of Flybe, who had cancelled their 8.40am flight to Southampton.

A large number of the passengers booked on the flight needed to catch the Queen Mary 2 cruise ship to New York.

Terry Crump, from Atlanta in the US, said it was very frustrating queuing and not getting any information for some time.

“I’m here two hours and just a few minutes ago heard about the fire. I’ve flown millions of miles but never come across being treated like this and not being given any information,” he said.

“This is the worst I’ve ever seen in an airline situation. It’s a fiasco.”

Mr Crump said passengers were told the flight was cancelled at the gate, a few minutes before the flight was due to take off at 8.40am.

“My trip has been so wonderful here, it’s so beautiful, and it’s sad to end it this way. It’s been my first negative experience in 12 days.”

Mr Crump said he was hopeful he could get another flight re-booked for the same day.

“They have not told me anything but lets hope so because the ship isn’t going to wait,” he said.

Kate Daly, from Kerry, said was also hopeful of getting a replacement flight the same day.

Ms Daly said her mother had been diagnosed with cancer and was very ill.

“We’re waiting hours. Nobody has told us anything really. I need to see my mother before it’s too late,” she said.

“It’s a very slow moving queue. A woman just jumped it, which doesn’t help things. It took a long time to get out luggage back too.”

Australian couple Cecily Chater and Greg Fitzgerald said they were not too stressed about the delays but were disappointed at the lack of information.

Ms Chater said there had been different rumours circulating behind the reasons for the cancellation that were frustrating before they found out from journalists about the fire.

“We were told nothing. Now we know, we’re fine. Things like this are part of travelling,” she said.

Delayed passengers

Nils Pingel from Germany, who has been on holiday in Ireland for the last 10 days, said he had no idea if his flight would be delayed.

He said he had only heard about the fire on news sites.

“It is confusing. It has been a good holiday but it will be nice to get home, “ he said.

John O’Neill from Dublin said he was on this way to London to attend a funeral.

He said his daughter was due to go on a separate flight at 7am and had contatced him describing the smoke and flames coming from the hangar as “phenomenal”.

“She’s still waiting I’d say. At the best of times there’s delays so you’d even more after a fire,” he said. “I won’t be too worried about the delays. These things always work out.”

The last flight to land at the airport before services were suspended was a Ryanair service from Leeds-Bradford in northern England at 7.26am. The last departure from Dublin was a Ryanair service to Wroclaw in Poland at Wroclaw at 7.25am.