Thousands hit by Gatwick baggage chaos
THOUSANDS of families had to fly off for half term without their luggage after Gatwick’s baggage sorting system broke down – holding up 3,000 bags.
Their Bank Holiday weekend got off to a nightmare start as travellers encountered chaotic scenes and huge queues at Britain’s second biggest airport.
The conveyor belt system that sorts bags before they arrive at the aircraft stopped working at around 5am yesterday, and was not fixed until around 9.15am.
Airline staff were forced to manually check each bag and put them on the right flight. Dozens of planes took off without all passengers’ luggage on board.
Furious travellers, many with young children in tow, waited in vain at their destination airport as their bags failed to arrive.
They included a bridesmaid travelling to Ibiza for a wedding whose dress was left behind, and parents whose children’s car seats were stuck at Gatwick. Even after
‘Impossible for us to go any further’
the problem was fixed, easyJet urged passengers to place essential items in their hand luggage to ‘limit any further inconvenience’. Gatwick later said it was optimistic that the ‘vast majority’ of flyers would be reunited with their bags by the end of the day.
But some holidaymakers going away for just the weekend were told they may have to wait until Sunday to get them back.
Passengers complained about a lack of information about what was going on, and what they should do with their bags.
Those affected were mainly flying to European destinations with easyJet, British Airways and Norwegian Air. Many holidaymakers vented their frustration on Twitter, posting pictures of lengthy queues at Gat- wick’s check-in desks and huge amounts of luggage left in the middle of the hall.
Mark Ralphs, 42, of Brighton, arrived in Bologna on an easyJet flight with his wife and their two toddlers, but were missing their child car seats. He said: ‘It’s impossi- ble for us to go any further without car seats. We’re currently in the lost and found queue surrounded by a lot of other annoyed travellers. It’s a nightmare scenario.’
A Gatwick spokesman said: ‘We would like to apologise for any inconvenience caused to passengers whose aircraft departed without their bag.’ EasyJet said it was working with the airport to return luggage as soon as possible. If bags are not returned within 24 hours, passengers can claim up to £25 per person per day for three days.