Dublin travellers face second day of airport delays

DUBLIN, July 10 (Reuters) - Passengers faced more travel disruptions at Dublin airport on Thursday after a fault with the radar system caused severe delays and dozens of cancellations on Wednesday.

The radar was back in operation on Thursday but for safety reasons the Irish Aviation Authority (IAA) decided to limit traffic to 70 percent of total capacity, which it said could cause increasing delays throughout the day.

"It will be nothing like the extent of the problems that happened yesterday," an IAA spokeswoman said.

"But it is likely that there will be some delays, especially as the day goes on," she said. "A 20 minute delay in the morning might be a 40 minute or an hour's delay in the afternoon."

Ryanair, Europe's biggest low-cost airline, said the situation had improved somewhat by midday (1100 GMT), with inbound flights delayed by about 45 minutes and no significant delays on departures.

"Ryanair continues to call for a government investigation into the failure of the radar system, the failure of the IAA to have a back up or contingency plan," it said on its website.

Rival Irish carrier Aer Lingus said it expected to operate a full schedule into and out of Dublin on Thursday but passengers would still experience some delays.

The Dublin Airport Authority (DAA) advised all passengers to contact their airline before turning up at the airport.

Flight information on the DAA's website showed delays were not as severe as on Wednesday but many flights were still 1-2 hours late. (Reporting by Andras Gergely; Editing by Matthew Jones)