Dublin Airport’s historic Christmas plane blessing faces hurdles

Dublin Airport’s long-standing tradition of blessing planes on Christmas Day may come to an end due to new safety regulations.

For 76 years, a priest would bless planes by taking holy water onto the airfield.

However, recent security changes at the airport have made it difficult to continue this tradition.

The airport’s operator, DAA, explains that access to the airside area is now restricted to airport operations only, meaning non-operational activities like plane blessings can’t happen there anymore.

However, DAA is looking into other ways to keep the Christmas blessing ceremony going.

Some reports suggested that a request for a non-religious blessing prompted the change, but the airport clarified that it was solely due to security concerns.

The tradition began in 1947 with Aer Lingus planes, named after Irish Christian saints.

It expanded to include Ryanair planes over the years, but with increased air traffic, individual blessings became impractical. N

ow, a general blessing is done by the airport chaplain from the airfield.

With millions of passengers passing through Dublin Airport each year, safety is crucial.

The airport is working on finding a way to continue the Christmas blessing ceremony while following new regulations mandated by the Irish Aviation Authority.