Aviation company Swissport are moving their temporary luggage collection point in Edinburgh following a huge backlog of cases, left unclaimed or late off flights to the capital.
The baggage handling agent, who are responsible for the luggage of airlines such as Jet2, Ryanair and TUI, have issued an apology to Edinburgh passengers. It comes after dozens were forced to wait for hours in this week's earlier heatwave in an attempt to retrieve cases.
Reports suggest that, despite waiting hours, some passengers were still unable to claim their luggage as Swissport shut the facility early. They told people to keep an eye on Edinburgh Airport's website for updates in the coming days.
READ MORE: Edinburgh rail passengers face long delays in huge queues at London King's Cross
Swissport have now confirmed that a new temporary " repatriation facility" will soon be opened at Ingliston, the home of Edinburgh's Royal Highland Centre. They also apologised for delays.
A Swissport spokesperson said: "We apologise to passengers who’ve experienced delays to the return of their baggage at Edinburgh Airport. In busy periods such as the current peak travel time, the knock-on effects of delays across the travel process, such as air traffic issues, short-shipped luggage and late changes to flight schedules, can create challenging conditions for baggage handlers.
"We have brought in additional staff to help our team and are updating passengers with details of our secure baggage repatriation facility at Ingliston to ensure we can reunite them with their baggage as soon as possible."
In recent weeks, images of the company's indoor warehouse that was used for storing luggage showed hundreds of bags that passengers have been rifling through to try and fetch their cases.
Edinburgh Airport confirmed that any queries involving luggage lies with each airline's handling agent, as the airport themselves only provide the facilities for the agent's to use. Staff were forced to disconnect their land lines due to the onslaught of abusive calls from disgruntled passengers in recent weeks.
It is understood that the new facility will be open between 9am and 5pm, although Swissport have warned those arriving at peak times they may face a delay in retrieving luggage.
Pictures from inside the airport's luggage collection hall in recent weeks have also shown masses of unclaimed bags that have been abandoned by passengers arriving back in the capital and couldn't face waiting any longer for their cases to arrive.
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