The travel chaos is continuing at Manchester Airport with passengers claiming they waited three hours for luggage and struggled to navigate lengthy queues - with some travellers have received messages from tour operator TUI stating breaks had been cancelled.
Angry passengers who had planned to getaway ahead of half-term and Bank Holiday weekend have been tweeting about their experience at the troubled travel hub. This comes amid ongoing tales from travellers of missing luggage, holiday cancellations and mammoth flight delays, reports the Manchester Evening News.
Jaymeleigh McCarroll described the scenes in baggage reclaim early this morning as an 'absolute mess' with luggage left abandoned on the floor. At around 2.30am, @RuinousHugh said he had been waiting for two hours to collect his bags from Terminal 1. "Why the hell can't you sort this out?", he tweeted Manchester Airport.
Philip Bennett also tweeted: "Manchester airport Terminal 3 baggage reclaim. 3:15am. People waiting over 3 hours for bags. Shocking. Not an employee in sight. Welcome to Britain."
More check-in queues were also reported with lines of passengers stretching into the car park of Terminal 1. Delays were also reported in Terminal 3.
Other devastated holidaymakers raged about cancelled TUI holidays, after the UK's biggest tour operator announced it was scrapping nearly 200 flights from Manchester Airport in the next month. However, TUI has not been able to identity which flights will be axed.
One woman said she felt like 'crying her eyes out' after waking up to a message from TUI. Jodie Frankland said this morning: "Waking up to an email that our holiday has been cancelled!! Literally could cry my eyes out @manairport @TUIUK."
Manchester City Councillor Pat Karney described the situationsas a 'shambles' as he too fell victim of the cancellations. He tweeted a picture of an email he was sent at 2.50am.
It read: "Dear customer, we are contacting you to let you know that due to unprecedented challenges in our operation at Manchester Airport we have taken the incredibly difficult decision to cancel your flight. We deeply regret having to make this decision as we know how much you would have been looking forward to your holiday."
TUI said it had taken the 'drastic step' to cancel six flights a day, or 43 a week, from May 31 until June 30, from Manchester Airport in a bid to help resolve ‘issues’ which have caused flight delays, cancellations and baggage problems in recent days.
Manchester Airport, meanwhile, has blamed staff problems, including shortfalls at handling agent Swissport, for the continuing problems.
