A family claim they've been left stranded in Italy without clothes and vital medication after their suitcases failed to turn up following chaos at Manchester Airport.
A power outage at an electricity substation near the airport hit Terminal 3 on Wednesday morning, causing huge queues at check-in, and passengers dashing to make their flights.
The M.E.N previously reported that some travellers who did make it to their holiday destinations discovered that their checked-in luggage had not made it with them.
READ MORE: Join the FREE Manchester Evening News WhatsApp community
Dee Greenwood, a teacher from Marple, flew from the airport on Wednesday with Ryanair with her husband, daughter and her boyfriend. They landed in Naples only to find their suitcases had not arrived.
The family had flown out to Italian coast for a wedding in Sorrento today (May 26), but claim they are still without their luggage - and have accused Ryanair and Manchester Airport of failing to communicate with them.
Dee, 52, claims her daughter, who has asthma and Crohn's disease, even travelled from Sorrento to Naples Airport at 6.30am this morning in a desperate last-ditch to find their bags, but they still hadn't arrived.
Speaking to the M.E.N, she said: "A friend of a friend who works at Manchester Airport told us yesterday the cases had been flown to Barcelona and were then being flown to Naples and were thought to have arrived last night.
"My daughter and her boyfriend got the train to Naples from Sorrento at 6.30am this morning to get them but when they arrived the suitcases still weren't there.
"We arrived on Wednesday and we’ve not heard anything from Ryanair or Manchester Airport. When we have spoken to them they just keep blaming each other."
Ryanair say the family's luggage wasn't loaded on to the flight due to the power outage at Manchester Airport, and claim they have tried to contact Ms Greenwood, but don't have a valid phone number - something she claims is not true.
The M.E.N understands Manchester Airport are not responsible for passenger's luggage. In a previous statement, they apologised for the inconvenience caused to passengers.
The family had travelled to Sorrento for the wedding of Dee's nephew, and have had to frantically source new outfits for the event, which is due to take place this afternoon.
But more importantly, Dee's 23-year-old daughter Amie Kinsey, has been left with just one inhaler, and without vital medication for her Crohn's disease.
"We’ve had to go out and buy outfits which has been okay but the main thing is my daughter’s medication," she said.
"She has Crohn's disease and asthma and she only had one inhaler in her hand luggage which lasted for the plane. Luckily my mum has a spare that she is using.
"She can bleed really heavily so is supposed to take a tablet every day which stops the bleeding which she hasn’t been able to do so it’s actually really serious."
Dee says despite attempting to track their luggage, they still have no idea where their suitcases are. "We have got the PIR number but it just keeps saying 'searching for bags,'" she said.
"We are just so upset because there is nobody we can actually speak to. The lack of communication has been awful."
A spokesperson for Ryanair said: "Due to the power outage at Manchester Airport on Wed (24 May) this passenger’s luggage was not loaded onto their flight from Manchester to Naples.
"To minimise disruption, Ryanair quickly arranged for this passenger’s bag to be sent to Naples on the next available flight via Barcelona.
"While we attempted to contact this passenger yesterday (25 May) to update her on the whereabouts of her bag, we were unable to contact her as the phone number provided in the booking was not valid."
When we asked Manchester Airport, they referred us to a statement released on Wednesday. In that, a spokesperson said: "Shortly before 8am we experienced a power outage at Terminal 3 due to an issue at an external substation that serves the airport.
"Power was restored by around 9am, but some passengers then faced a long wait to check in whilst our airlines recovered their services. We apologise for any inconvenience this caused.
"We deployed colleagues from our customer service and resilience teams to keep passengers informed, making food, water and suncream available. We would like to thank colleagues for their hard work in trying circumstances.
"Passengers who faced delays or missed flights are advised to contact their airline about their next steps."
Read more of today's top stories here
READ NEXT:
