Dublin Airport has two terminals, a five-minute covered walk apart, each with its own arrivals hall. Knowing which one you land in removes most of the anxiety from a first transfer.
Which terminal
Terminal 2 handles Aer Lingus long-haul and most Aer Lingus short-haul, plus Emirates, Etihad, Delta, American, United, Air Canada, Lufthansa, KLM/Air France and most transatlantic traffic.
Terminal 1 handles Ryanair, British Airways, easyJet, Aer Lingus Regional, Norwegian, TUI and most low-cost European carriers.
Airlines do move between terminals. Your boarding pass is the authority, and it will say. We work it out from your flight number in any case.
How long clearing arrivals takes
For EU and UK arrivals, there is no passport control on entry from Schengen or the Common Travel Area, so it is baggage reclaim only — typically 15 to 30 minutes from wheels-down to the arrivals hall.
For non-EU arrivals (US, Canada, Middle East, Asia), immigration comes first. On a quiet morning that is ten minutes. When three widebodies land together, it can be an hour. Then reclaim on top.
Plan for 30–45 minutes on an EU arrival and 45–75 on a long-haul. Our free waiting time is set at 60 minutes from landing precisely because of this, and we do not start charging the moment it expires — we use judgement.
Where the driver stands
Inside the arrivals hall, past customs, in the public meeting area directly opposite the sliding doors. Holding a printed board with your name on it.
Not in the short-term car park. Not "circling outside". Not on the kerb, which at Dublin is a set-down area with no waiting permitted. Inside, on foot, with a sign — which is why the airport parking charge is built into the fare rather than added to it.
If you cannot see the board immediately, stay in the arrivals hall and email or call the number on your confirmation. Do not go outside to look; the halls are large and it is much easier to find each other if one of you stays still.
If you are delayed
You do not need to do anything. We monitor the inbound flight number on every airport booking, so a delay, a diversion or an early arrival is already reflected in when the driver leaves. Rescheduled to the next day, though? Email us — that we cannot see.
Departures
For the return leg we recommend arriving 2 hours before a European departure and 3 hours before a transatlantic one. US-bound passengers should add more: Dublin has US Preclearance, meaning you complete American immigration and customs in Dublin before boarding, and land in the States as a domestic arrival. It is a considerable convenience and it takes time. Aim for three and a half hours on a US departure in summer.
Ready to book? Request a quote — tell us the flight number and we will do the rest.
