Lost luggage sagas are Virgin on nightmares say passengers
Virgin Australia passengers have complained they have been left without their baggage for days after travelling from Auckland to Melbourne.
The airline apologised after two frustrated travellers contacted Stuff about their lost baggage as ‘‘a last resort’’.
Virgin Australia spokeswoman Elle Twight acknowledged there had been problems. The airline was working with its baggage services provider ‘‘to ensure that any disrupted baggage is returned to its rightful owners as quickly as possible’’.
‘‘We are offering direct assistance to all affected passengers and sincerely apologise for any inconvenience caused’’, she said.
Jaye, originally from Palmerston North, and who wanted to be identified only by her first name, said she was among about 15 travellers on flight VA169 from Auckland who arrived in Melbourne on December 27 to find their bags had not been loaded.
Staff in Melbourne told her that the issues were due to Virgin changing its baggage handlers in Auckland before Christmas and that there were passengers on an earlier flight on December 22 who still did not have their bags a week later, she said.
Jaye said when she finally collected her bags on New Year’s Eve, several items in her suitcase were broken.
‘‘Virgin offered no other means of apology except for a ‘sorry card’ on my baggage. When I picked up my bag the guy was on a phone call and threw the phone down swearing and told me to basically ‘stop standing round and come get my bag’.’’
Andrew Lock, who flew to Melbourne from Auckland on Friday on flight VA165, said he had yet to receive his checked-in baggage on Tuesday morning.
After asking about compensation his call was routed through five people before he was hung up on.
‘‘This is becoming a health and safety issue with me not being able to access my medication for the last three days.
Lock said he called Virgin again on Tuesday morning to locate his suitcase ‘‘but got the typical response telling me to contact someone else’’.
Further information has been sought from Virgin Australia on the nature of its direct assistance to passengers.