Major security breach as man allowed to board plane with no documents at Dublin Airport

In a major security breach, a man went through Dublin Airport and boarded a flight without producing a passport or boarding pass on Monday evening, March 27.

Abdul Ahmead (48) was fined €700 after boarding the Aer Lingus flight to Birmingham at Dublin Airport without providing any documents.

He was charged with trespassing with intent to commit an offence and with failure to produce a valid passport or similar document as a non-national in the State.

He was fined €350 for each charge.

Ahmead was able to move through security screening at Terminal 2 and pass airline staff at the gate to then board the airplane—despite not having shown a boarding pass or passport.

Boarding passes at Terminal 2 are checked manually by a staff member, as opposed to an automated system in Terminal 1.

Airport Police removed Ahmead from a seat he had taken on board the 7.05pm flight to Birmingham.

Ahmead, of Stanton Street, Newcastle, UK, was arrested at Terminal 2. He appeared before the Criminal Courts of Justice in Dublin city centre yesterday morning where he was fined.

Airport operator DAA has declined to comment on this incident.

This breach of security comes as DAA chiefs have been invited to appear before the Oireachtas Transport Committee on April 19 following revelations by independent.ie that a whistleblowing employee working at Dublin Airport has made a protected disclosure about security and screening at the airport.

The claims alleged that security screening at Dublin airport is “not fit for purpose”.

The Irish Aviation Authority (IAA) has found “prima facie” evidence into the whistleblower’s claims of “vulnerabilities” at the airport which could lead to a possible terrorist attack and has launched a formal investigation into the protected disclosure, as it has found “prima facie” evidence that “wrongdoing may have occurred”. ​

The whistleblower claims that a drop in standards in staff training has led to “below par” security screening at the airport, where ­“vulnerabilities” could be “exploited”.

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