Disastrous display at Heathrow Airport as thousands have flights cancelled

Thousands of frustrated travellers have been left without crucial belongings after Heathrow Airport suffered a major technical issue.

Catastrophic scenes have been captured inside the world’s busiest international airport where thousands of travellers unwittingly departed without their belongings.

Video taken inside London’s Heathrow Airport showing a huge holding area piled high with hundreds, if not thousands, of suitcases.

A man named Michael Kelly shared the clip to Twitter over the weekend, after the airport reportedly suffered the serious “technical issue” with its baggage system on Friday.

Similar disturbing images flooded social media over the weekend as angry passengers vented their frustrations at having to take their long-awaited holidays without their bags.

pic.twitter.com/xFteM3CO3M

— Gaga (@StephanJBauer) June 20, 2022

But then, adding to travellers’ woes, airlines using Heathrow terminals two and three were asked on Monday to cut 10 per cent of their flights to allow the airport an opportunity to get on top of the backlog.

It meant up to 5000 people had their flights cancelled.

A spokesperson for the airport told the BBC cancelling flights would help reduce the impact of the technical issues.

“We apologise unreservedly for the disruption passengers have faced over the course of this weekend,” they said.

“The technical issues affecting baggage systems have led to us making the decision to request airlines operating in terminals two and three to consolidate their schedules on Monday, June 20.

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Thousands of bags have been captured stacked together in a holding area. Picture: Twitter/Michaelkelly707

“This will enable us to minimise ongoing impact and we ask that all passengers check with their airlines for the latest information.”

Many passengers reported lengthy delays of several hours as they endured the effects of the baggage issues.

“Absolutely horrendous using T3 yesterday. Over an hour in the queue for security, plane delayed two hours and baggage not put on my flight. No announcements to explain or apologise,” one traveller wrote on Twitter.

Another said they were away from home for a month and desperately needed medication contained in their lost baggage.

@united my bag is stuck in Heathrow airport, there are 2+ hour wait times when I call or text, and I need my belongings that I packed intentionally for 5 weeks of work in New York. Someone please help my bag get to EWR!!!!

— Stephanie F (@stephfeder) June 21, 2022

@HeathrowAirport and @British_Airways what a disaster! How could you let this happen? Our suitcases have been missing for 5 days and no update! Your generic responses are meaningless. Where are our bags?!?

— Anna (@_anna_noble_) June 21, 2022

I was stuck in the chaos at #heathrowairport yesterday. Although at least my flight took off. We were stuck on the tarmac so long, waiting for the bags to be boarded, the woman next to me watched all of No Time To Die before we even left the gate.

— Benedict Brook (@BenedictBrook) June 20, 2022

“Where’s my luggage from Friday? I’m without my medication, please help. I’m away for a month, with no luggage. Austrian airlines put the phone down. Can you help?” they wrote.

In response to angry customers on Twitter, the Heathrow Airport account encouraged travellers to persist in their attempts to follow up on their lost items with their airlines.

Many said despite trying several times to determine the location of their bags, they were no closer to being reunited with them.

“Day three in Mauritius with no luggage and no one is able to communicate with us to confirm where are cases are,” one said.

“Travelled from London to Toronto on Friday and still don’t have my luggage. My airline can’t tell me where my suitcase is. Do you have any feel for timeline as to when you will sort through all of the luggage from Friday? Just looking for an answer from someone,” another wrote.

The airport responded saying it wasn’t in a position to provide an estimate on how long it would take to return bags to their owners.

“We’re sorry but at this time we are unable to give a timeline for this. We are working around the clock with airlines to reunite passengers with their bags as quickly as possible. Your airline will provide you with an update as soon as possible,” its response read.