What It Takes to Secure 35 million Passengers a Year
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A Mission-Critical Environment
Dublin Airport is Ireland’s busiest aviation hub, serving more than 36 million passengers each year across two terminals and four piers. With a constantly moving population of full-time employees, part-time contractors, vendors, and international passengers, the challenge is to maintain flow and control in one of the most tightly regulated environments in Europe.
Every access point must be secure. Every credential must be authenticated. Every system must perform.
DAA relies on Acre’s identity and access control infrastructure to support:
- 30,000+ active credentials
- 1,000+ secure access points
- 24/7 operations across both Dublin and Cork Airports
“Dublin Airport is a very tightly regulated business. We're dealing with 36 million passengers per year, and we're governed by international and national aviation regulation.”
— Vincent McGrath
Built to Scale, Designed to Stay Online
From the outset, the partnership focused on designing infrastructure that wouldn't just meet today's needs but grow alongside them. The Acre Enterprise Security Suite includes a three-tier fail-safe architecture that ensures access remains uninterrupted during outages, hardware failures, or network interruptions.
“In all the time the TDS team has been managing access control, we have never had one major failure of the system. And that's in 20 years.”
— Vincent McGrath, Security Operations Manager, DAA
The platform integrates tightly with DAA’s larger airport operations, including:
- Fire safety systems
- Vehicle gate and transport management
- Loyalty programs
- U.S. Homeland Security pre-clearance
Data, Visibility, and Control
DAA’s team uses real-time dashboards and robust reporting tools to:
- Manage access across restricted zones
- Monitor usage trends
- Maintain audit readiness for compliance
- Customize workflows for operational needs
This control allows the airport to move personnel efficiently while maintaining full oversight across complex zones like airside/landside separations, baggage halls, and customs-controlled areas.
“The system is adaptable, configurable, and customizable. When a change is required, it needs to happen immediately - not next quarter. Acre understands that.”
— Vincent McGrath
A 20-Year Partnership
This is more than a vendor relationship. Over two decades, Acre and DAA have worked in lockstep to deliver:
- Full integration across all terminals and piers
- A graphic console to manage personnel movement
- Support for 30,000+ credentialed employees and contractors
- Real-time response to regulatory and operational changes
“It's a close working relationship. You're delivering key functionality into a live, complex airport environment. The collaboration has to be there.”
— Val O’Rourke
“Customer success is instrumental. Theytreat us like an important customer and deliver what an aviation securitysystem requires.”
— Vincent McGrath
Looking Ahead
DAA is actively exploring next-generation capabilities: advanced analytics, optimization engines, and AI-driven insights. Because the Acre platform is modular and API-ready, it provides the foundation for this evolution.
“What really excites me is evolving security solutions: optimization, analytics, AI. It’s about going beyond security and redefining how the airport operates.”
— Vincent McGrath
The Dublin Airport story reflects what’s possible when secure identity infrastructure is deeply aligned with operational strategy.
Explore Acre's Suite of Solutions for Airports
Aviation Security Solutions | Acre Identity
Watch the full video testimonial here.
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