Heathrow passengers have been told that they may not be reunited with their bags for several days because of a ‘baggage system problem’ leading to a huge accumulation of baggage at the airport.
Stunning images show how onlookers at one of the site’s terminals put together hundreds of bags of what they describe as a ‘luggage carpet’ – hours after Heathrow’s chief executive claimed passengers would only be ‘ Was facing slight ‘delay’.
The owners have apologized to customers, who were reportedly warned it could be up to two days before they can be reassembled with their luggage, and blamed the disruption on a ‘technical problem’ with the baggage system, which Says it has been resolved.
sky News Defense and Security Editor Deborah Haynes, who flew into the airport last night and witnessed the devastation, told the site: ‘When I stepped outside I saw this crazy mass of suitcases filling the sidewalk like a giant luggage carpet.
‘I’ve never seen anything like this. Although it seems that it was trying to organize anarchy.
‘The officers were trying to arrange suitcases next to the poles, with the letters of the alphabet on them – perhaps it was to match the name of the owner of each bag. It seemed like an epic act.’
It is the latest scene of chaos at British airports, which have been plagued by staff shortages and painfully long queues for weeks.
And there are fears that the worst may still come, when children are out of school for the summer, which will see millions of families looking to go abroad for the holidays.
A Heathrow spokesperson told MailOnline today: ‘Yesterday there was a technical issue with the Terminal 2 baggage system which has now been resolved.
‘Passengers are now able to check-in normally, but many passengers departing Terminal 2 tomorrow will have traveled without their luggage.
“We are working closely with airlines to connect passengers with their luggage as quickly as possible.
‘We regret that the travel of the passengers has been disrupted.’
Heathrow passengers were told today that they may not be found with their bags for several days because of a ‘baggage system problem’ leading to a huge accumulation of baggage at the airport.
Stunning images show how hundreds of bags are put together by onlookers at one of the site’s terminals, described as a ‘luggage carpet’
Passengers on a Heathrow flight were outraged today as their bags were reportedly left behind with pictures of a giant ‘luggage carpet’ circulating on social media after they left the UK.
It comes as travelers leaving UK airports last month canceled flights at the last minute, luggage got stuck hundreds of miles away and snakebites became the new norm.
Shocking visuals across the country have shown some holidaymakers forced to sleep on the floors of terminals amid long delays.
Passengers crossed borders instead of waiting for subsequent flights as they rushed to return to work and school after half term.
Many said they were forced to spend hundreds of pounds for new flights or other modes of transport such as Eurostar trains.
Among them were teachers who needed to go back to class and A-level students who ran the risk of missing exams and even university places.
The aviation industry is grappling with a staff shortage after thousands of people were laid off during the coronavirus pandemic.
And Gatwick Express canceled all trains for three days the following week, and Eurostar removed dozens of services, as last-minute crunch talks with Network Rail continued.
Trade Minister Paul Scully told Sky News there are 1.3 million vacancies in various sectors across the country, but there are also those who have ‘reorganized what they want to do while they are on furlough’.
He also said that he wants to make it possible that ‘people who can work longer – who want to work longer – can’.
It comes as Heathrow chief executive John Holland-Kaye warned that it would take 12 to 18 months for the industry to get its capacity back to pre-pandemic levels.
Mr Holland-Kaye pointed out that skilled jobs are gone and it takes time to recruit and train people, while staffing issues around the world have an impact on UK airports as well.
He told Sky News that passengers at Heathrow suffered only minor delays, adding: ‘For two years most politicians and the public have been calling for the borders to be closed and this has had devastating effects.’
He added: ‘It is very easy to put the brakes on an industry, there is a huge job loss, but it is very difficult to revive it.’
Mr Holland-Kaye believes there will be enough workers to deal with the summer exodus because Heathrow’s ‘largest team of people are security officers and the number of people we will have this summer before the pandemic’.
Ground handling companies, which provide services such as baggage checks and aircraft cleaning, have suffered huge job losses.
Gatwick said yesterday that it plans to limit its number of daily flights to 825 in July and 850 in August, compared to 900 daily flights reported during the same period in previous years.
Furious travelers took to social media to share videos and photos of the sea of luggage left on T2 on Friday
Hundreds of passengers’ bags and personal belongings piled up at Terminal 2 at Britain’s busiest airport on Friday, as passengers suffered fresh travel headaches after weeks of chaos.
Heathrow apologized to customers and explained that a sea of \u200b\u200bbaggage was formed after employees grappled with an ‘ongoing issue with the baggage system’.
That means 4,000 flights will be closed by September – meaning 800,000 people will have to find alternative travel arrangements – but owners hope it will help passengers ‘experience a more reliable and better service’.
And EasyJet, which canceled 40 flights per day in June, said: ‘Given the high frequencies of our services to and from Gatwick, we expect most customers to be able to re-adjust if they are affected by their flight caps. should be able’.
A spokesman for TUI, who was so short-staffed that police had to tell customers waiting at the gate in Manchester that their half-term leave had been cancelled, declared: TUI Airways flights from Gatwick are well off. are ongoing and hence we are planning to operate all the flights planned this summer’.
An 82-year-old disabled man died at Gatwick after he fell backwards from an escalator after being ‘impatient’ waiting for help to disembark from the EasyJet plane
This escalator from the £110 million Skybridge is believed to be where the man fell
By Jacob Thorburn and Dan Sales for MailOnline
A disabled passenger fell on the escalator of the £110 million Skybridge at Gatwick Airport after disembarking his flight after he was abandoned on an EasyJet plane.
The man was waiting for assistance to de-board his flight while traveling with his wife and son on Wednesday when he decided to leave the plane.
His partner is understood to have already been taken off the jet by Wilson – a private firm contracted to help disabled passengers.
They were dropped on the plane and had to be collected after they had left on foot with the others who were in flight.
The tragedy unfolded on an escalator leading from runway level to a tunnel that leads into the northern terminal, known as the Skybridge.
EasyJet employees struggled to try and save their lives after they first arrived at the scene as the disaster occurred when he collapsed on the escalator at around 12.50 a.m.
A source said: ‘A staff member came to pick up [a] The woman was left in the airport but the man on the plane. He didn’t want to wait for the staff member to return so made his way into the terminal.
‘While boarding the escalator, the passenger fell down and was seriously injured and died. This is a sad incident that should never have happened. Somebody should have helped him.
Skybridge – which opened in 2005 – and cost over £100 million to build.
Its 194-metre length meant that 55,000 transfer-bus trips a year were not necessary to get people from their planes to the airport building.
The source added to The Sun: ‘General airport staff should be reminded not to help passengers with disabilities if they do not qualify, even if it means passengers have to wait for hours.’
PC Agency travel specialist Paul Charles said: ‘When this flight arrives, questions will be asked about the lack of staff available to assist in the middle of the day. This reflects the growing frustration of some passengers who cannot wait on the plane for long and hope that eventually help can be found.
Gatwick is one of several airports that have seen huge queues and flight chaos this month due to staff shortages.