Passengers arriving at Bristol Airport during Storm Eunice have been left waiting for hours at the terminal or on board planes due to high winds.
The pilots managed to land safely in the incredibly windy conditions, but airport authorities decided it was too windy for the ground crews to work - leaving hundreds of passengers stranded in the baggage reclaim hall. Others reported having to wait for long periods on the plane, some feeling queasy after a turbulent landing, until it was safe to disembark.
Pictured above is the scene at around 5.30pm today (Friday, February 18), hours after several flights arrived, as passengers were told to wait for the wind to drop before they could get their bags back. Flights from Tenerife, Krakow and Dublin arrived in the early afternoon, and passengers on those flights and others that have come in since are still - as of 5.30pm on Friday, February 18 - were still waiting for their bags at the time of writing.
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Alison Gilmour flew in from Dublin with her husband and two children. They thought the problems would be over after their pilot managed to land the plane at Bristol Airport, but they were wrong.
“We landed just after 2pm,” she said. “The pilot did an amazing job landing the plane. Then we were kept on the plane for maybe half an hour because it was too windy for the ground staff to get the stairs out to get us off the plane,” she added. “Eventually we did get off the plane and made our way to the baggage reclaim area, and the sign said the Dublin flight would be at ‘Belt 6’ so we all went there, but then… nothing.”
There were already passengers on flights from Tenerife and Krakow on the ground, but no baggage was coming through.
“There was a baggage enquiries desk, but there was no one manning it. Eventually, a lady from Swissport came over and there was like an angry mob surrounding her. She explained that our plane had come in and was parked in a certain way in the wind that made it too windy for the groundcrew to access the baggage hold of the plane.
“We were told we would have to wait for the wind to die down. That was at about 3pm and we’re still here [at 5.30pm],” she added. Alison’s husband and eldest child went through to the main airport to hire a car ready to drive to her parents in Devon, but they now can’t get back into the baggage hall. Alison said she is there with her baby, waiting for their buggy to come off the plane.
“Some people here are quite angry - one man was shouting that he has to get home for his animals. There were no staff here for ages. Then we were told the wind had died down enough to start unloading the bags, but that they would do it in the order the planes came in - that was an hour ago, but we still haven’t seen any bags.
“I’m laughing about it here, but it is pretty sh**. There’s another lady here with a baby too, and the baggage hall is very full with people,” she added.
Other passengers have reported that they were left on their planes for a lot longer than the half an hour experienced by the passengers on the Dublin flight as reported by Alison.
A spokesperson for Bristol Airport said Storm Eunice had caused lots of different kinds of disruptions - to flights, to getting passengers off the planes and their baggage too.
“Storm Eunice caused disruption to a number of flights today,” she said. “Ahead of Storm Eunice, airlines made the decision to proactively cancel a number of flights advising customers ahead of their journey to Bristol Airport.
“Some flights have experienced flight delays, however the majority of flights remained operating as normal. The disruption may cause reactionary delays to some flights later this evening. It is a rapidly changing situation and customers are advised to keep updated with the latest flight information by checking airline website and allow extra time when travelling to the airport in case of disruption on the road network,” she added.
In response to messages from passengers stuck in the baggage hall, Bristol Airport said: “Wind speeds at the airport have impacted disembarkation. Thankfully the situation is improving but safety remains the highest priority for the ground handling teams.”
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Other flights from other destinations, including an easyJet flight from Paris, were also affected today as the groundcrews battled with the storm. Passengers said they had to wait for more than an hour after landing because it was too windy to bring the stairs to disembark.
One woman who was on board, who preferred not to be named, told Bristol Live: "We only got [given] a glass of water along side with paper bag to throw up when everyone felt sick after the second attempt to land because of the magnitude of the turbulence.
"What I don't understand is why the flight took off, it's only a one hour flight, surely they should have foreseen that the wind conditions would have made it very difficult to land. They should have cancelled the plane instead of making us take this risk."
Read more: Pictures show Bristol centre deserted as Storm Eunice landed
She said her partner's flight from Paris, which was due to take off tonight, has now been cancelled "even though it was much more dangerous this morning".
An easyJet spokesperson said: "easyJet can confirm that passengers onboard flight EZY6236 from Paris Orly experienced a delay in disembarking in Bristol earlier today due to the severe weather conditions which impacted ground handling operations at the airport.
"Our crew did all possible to minimise the impact of the delay for our customers onboard. While this is outside of our control we would like to apologise to customers for the inconvenience caused by the weather and thank them for their patience and understanding. The safety and wellbeing of our customers and crew is always easyJet's highest priority."
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