Originally Posted by
Sixth Freedom
Looking on the map, I am sure it was gate A1 in the southwest corner. I don't really mind bus transfers at T5, especially on arrival as the bus comes and goes quite quickly. Bus on departure is more tedious, but I think I get bus on arrival much more frequently. Maybe BAA's tactic is to use bus mainly for arriving passengers and then tow aircraft to bridge stands?
A1 is at the northwest end of T5A. A23 would be at the southwest corner that you describe. I'm not particularly close to the details, but I believe that international arrivals on the domestic gates A1-A7 can use the jetty and then the internal stairs to the bus. A8 is different in that it is on the boundary between domestic and international and Border Force has agreed that it can be used for both via a system of swing gates with very strict operational requirements.
A23 is for CTA arrivals only and I believe this is the only gate where any arrival other than CTA are required to use the rear stairs. There are a number of factors involved in this decision, including Border Force requirements and the layout of the aircraft stand, being the very end of the building. This sounds more like the stand that was used. Not common to get any arrival other than Dublin on this gate as the number of flights often are enough to ensure full utilisation just for that route.