Airport chief Dewar doubts bag issues will be fixed soon
Earlier this month, the Evening News reported that the chief executive of Edinburgh Airport admitted to having “very low confidence” the baggage problems which have beset Scotland’s busiest airport for the past two summers will be fixed in time for this year’s holiday season.
The warning came as Gordon Dewar said airport spending was being ramped up to cope with expected record passenger numbers in 2024, followed by expansion of the departure lounge and then a major change to its layout.
Thousands of travellers on Edinburgh-bound flights arrived without their luggage last year, which the airport said was the responsibility of airlines’ handling agents, who it claimed were short-staffed.
Mr Dewar said the problem had also been caused by “short shift” baggage not being transferred in time to connecting flights to Edinburgh from hub airports, and bags destined for other airports piling up in the Capital. But he said mislaid bags should be returned to passengers this year much quicker than before, despite ongoing problems.
He spoke at a meeting of the Edinburgh Airport Consultative Committee, telling them: “Effectively, that has been driven in the past by other hub airports’ performance – [baggage] coming through Amsterdam, Heathrow or Paris and the connections not being made.
“We have to live with the consequences of lots of bags turning up on later flights, quite often not even aimed at Edinburgh Airport – bags for Birmingham, Bristol and so on, because we have got quite good connectivity. If the last flight into the UK is to Edinburgh, then we get them.”
He described the baggage problem as “entirely seasonal, driven by peak demand, staff shortages and connections being too short”. “I have got very low confidence levels that we are going to see that fixed this year because none of the underlying issues are addressed,” he said. “We’re geared up for a similar poor performance as last year – but the repatriation part of it will be a lot, lot better.”
Mr Dewar said returning bags to passengers would be speeded up by the airport establishing its own dedicated team for the job, with the cost passed to the airlines responsible. He said: “What we can do is make sure we’re far better equipped to speed up the repatriation. So instead of waiting five, six, seven days and not having a clue where your bag is, we’re gearing up to have far better transparency about where it is, ie do we have it and therefore make sure that we will get it to you.
“The biggest failure is that our third-party handlers weren’t collecting the right information about the bag and where it should be sent, such as for those doing a tour, so your bag isn’t chasing you round Scotland. I will be very upset if we can’t get a two-day turnaround, if not better.”