Passengers leap over conveyor belts to find luggage

Airport staff were left shocked after travellers climbed through baggage carousel belts to find their own luggage.

Passengers have been forced to climb through baggage carousel belts at the airport to find their own luggage due to staff shortages, a new investigation has revealed.

A video caught the moment desperate holiday-makers crawled across the luggage belts at Manchester Airport to find their suitcases.

It shows two passengers having climbed into the airside baggage area.

A passenger is then heard telling the baggage handlers they had been waiting for over an hour-and-a-half after landing from Turkey and offered to help unload bags, The Sun reports.

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Passengers were filmed crawling through the baggage belt to find their luggage.

However in the clip the baggage handlers tell them that even though they are at the belt, the luggage probably isn’t theirs as “belts have been changed and flights cancelled”.

Revealed by UK’s Channel 4 Airport Chaos Undercover: Dispatches, an undercover reporter working for baggage handler company Swissport said it happens “all the time”.

He said it was “f***ing chaos” which even led to fights between passengers.

They could be heard telling baggage staff they have been waiting an hour-and-a-half for their luggage.

The problems come after company Swissport, used by a number of airlines, made more than half of its 6000 staff redundant during the pandemic.

A spokesperson apologised for the disruption and said the company has hired more than 4100 people since January.

A woman told staff she and a friend had another flight to catch and even offered to help with the bags.

The Channel 4 investigation also spoke to a Wizz Air pilot who spoke of the chaos.

They said: “There is a shortage of crew and to avoid cancelling flights, they encourage staff to work harder. There is pressure for us to help out by flying on our days off.

“There is also a summer bonus scheme that encourages pilots to fly more hours.”

It comes as Brits have been left without their suitcases for hours if not days.

A Wizz Air spokesperson said the airline operated an “industry-leading fatigue management system,” adding: “We will not hesitate to cancel flights whenever necessary to guarantee safety.”

And Manchester Airport told The Sun that the filming took place a month ago, with improvements being made since then.

Research carried out for Dispatches by air travel data provider OAG estimates that, since January, 1.7 million people flying into or out of the UK have been affected by cancellations within 48 hours of their flight.

Brits have been warned to expect cancelled flights and luggage problems for months to come.

Distressed passengers have been left stranded in huge queues at airports across the country in recent months as airlines have cancelled thousands of flights.

And strike action is set to cause more chaos – Ryanair crew in Spain are threatening walkouts until January while pilots are now also threatening to strike.

This story originally appeared on The Sun and is republished here with permission