The Commission for Aviation has fined Dublin Airport over  delays  experienced by passengers passing through security and consumer dissatisfaction with phone and e-mail facilities in the terminal.

Under a quality service monitoring scheme introduced by the regulator this year, the Dublin Airport Authority must ensure that passengers spend less than 30 minutes in the queue for security. On May 15th, a queue of 34 minutes was recorded, triggering a reduction of 0.05 per cent of the authority’s price cap per passenger, which currently stands at €8.93.

The airport failed to meet two of the 13 service measures in the quality scheme. Aside from the delay in security, it scored 2.99 on an index of passenger satisfaction with communications, telecom and e-facilities, below the target of 3.1. As a result, the price cap for this year is being reduced by 0.0625 per cent.

The airport reached its targets for cleanliness, comfort, staff courtesy and overall satisfaction.

Passenger complaints about airlines fell by one-quarter last year, the commission also revealed yesterday.

Some 311 complaints were received in 2009, compared to 413 the year before.