Hundreds of suitcases have been pictured piled up at Manchester Airport as passengers again raise security concerns. The airport has been plagued with problems in recent weeks with a staffing crisis and a resurgence in international travel following the pandemic.
It's lead to huge queues at check-in and security. Many travellers have also reported issues at arrivals, in particular, baggage reclaim, with delays, in some cases, of several cases hours for returning holidaymakers to collect their luggage.
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Passengers faced with extremely long waits have been offered their chance to leave and have their luggage delivered. Whilst others have decided themselves to walk out and collect their cases later from lost property.
But pictures from Terminal 1 and Terminal 3 last night show the situation has not yet eased. Phil Rawnsley, 69, landed at the airport on an Easyjet flight from Basel in Switzerland at around midnight last night.
He said he 'dropped lucky' with his bag arriving within 15 minutes following what was one of the last flights of the day to land. However, he said he was stunned to see the number of bags that had just left at the side of the carousel and on trollies, which he snapped pictures of.
"They were everywhere" Phil, from Atherton, in the borough of Wigan. "They were in every corner. There was a trolly with a load piled on and then there were other piles all over the place. It just got me thinking how many people must be without their stuff.
"But the thing that struck us the most was that anyone could have just walked in and thought 'oh that's a nice case, I'll take that.' I was really shocked. I'm not sure if they were from the day before or had been there a few days.
"I certainly wouldn't have liked to think of my case being left there like that." The airport insist the areas where baggage is left are secure and staffed 24 hours a day and are in no way deemed a security risk.
"I don't know how they are going to get all the bags back to their owners and how long it's going to take" Phil added. "It's a mammoth task and is going to cost them thousands of pounds to send them all by courier."
M.E.N reporter Lyell Tweed landed at Terminal 3 yesterday evening on a flight from Malaga. His bag also arrived quickly but he said: "There are abandoned bags still strewn across the reclaim, so not everyone has been as lucky as I have." He added that there were bags there that he had seen over 24 hours earlier when he arrived back on a flight from Dublin.
Earlier this week the Manchester Evening News published pictures showing similar piles of luggage described by one passenger as a 'shameful mess.' Some had been there for over two days.
Baggage handlers have also told us how they were working under 'more stress than ever' with one saying they are simply unable to handle the current workload.
Baggage is the responsibility of airlines and the baggage handling agents they appoint and is not managed by the airport directly. However, the airport bosses have admitted that several baggage handling agents firms are experiencing similar staffing issues as the airport themselves.
One such firm, Swissport, said last week "a dramatic increase" in the number of flights had put the baggage system "under enormous pressure." They were also seeing knock-on delays from security queues they said.
"Many companies in the aviation sectors are facing resourcing challenges at present, including third-party service providers on our site, such as baggage handling agents" a Manchester Airport spokesman said.
“On rare occasions, where an extended wait for baggage reclaim is expected, passengers are offered the opportunity to return home and have their luggage delivered to them by courier.
“Such baggage is set aside in a secure area, staffed 24 hours per day, to be collected. As it has been screened at its point of origin and is stored in a security-controlled area, it is not deemed to be a security risk.”
Swissport, which is not the only baggage handler at Manchester Airport - said it had recruited almost 1,000 new members of staff in the UK and Ireland, but pointed to rising cases of Covid-19 and security procedures and training for new starters.
"We understand how frustrating and inconvenient delays are for customers and we apologise to those who've experienced delays in disembarking and baggage collection" a spokesman for the company said. With the increased demand for travel the capacity of the baggage system is being put under enormous pressure and we are seeing knock-on delays from security queues.
"We, and other baggage handlers operating at the airport, are all working closely with the airport management to help identify contingency measures whilst they address the vital maintenance and improvements these shared facilities require."
