Chaos at Edinburgh Airport as passengers wait hours to collect bags after flights

Those waiting in the baggage halls were greeted with messaged on the screen of ‘Baggage Delivery Completed’ despite still not having their luggage – with the issue thought to have been caused due to staffing issues with airline handling companies,

Images show frustrated passengers sitting on the floor and waiting around baggage delivery belts after their flights have landed, as well as hundreds of cases piled next to conveyor belts.

One passenger told the Edinburgh Evening News that baggage was being dumped at the side of belts and cordoned and that belts were not moving – adding: “It was chaos.

"Baggage wasn’t moving and people were missing connections.

"A lot of families were getting angry as they needed buggy’s and prams for kids.

"Some flights were landing and being told they won’t get their luggage for an hour – and the baggage office wasn’t open.

"Some people who were in bigger families went home and left someone at airport or some families who had kids – and others went through to arrivals with the kids and left someone in the hall."

A tannoy announcement at Edinburgh Airport stated that the issues were due to staffing issues with airline handling companies, with police also pictured at the baggage collection area in an attempt to manage the situation.

Another social media user wrote: “People have been waiting for over an hour for luggage and not one person has made an effort to communicate with visitors to Scotland about the situation. What a shocking welcome.”

A passenger also took to social media over the wait time writing: “We waited 3 hours 10 minutes from landing to getting our luggage.”

Another angry passenger wrote: “There’s problems with luggage in the Edinburgh Airport. I’ve been waiting for mine 2 hours now! I’m also going to Glasgow as soon as I can get out of here.”

Edinburgh Airport chaos - your letters online

Edinburgh Airport said that the issues experienced by passengers was due to issues with airline handling agents who are responsible for the return of baggage.

A spokesman for Edinburgh Airport said: “We want passengers to receive their luggage in a timely manner and we know airlines and their handling agents, who are responsible for the return of luggage, are doing what they can.

"Recruitment challenges in a competitive market is making it difficult for some partners to recruit staff and we continue to support where we can, such as hosting job fairs and events solely for partner recruitment.”

A Swissport spokesperson said: “Summer months are always exceptionally busy, and the aviation sector is under increasing pressure at the moment.

"With high volumes of off-schedule luggage arriving daily at Edinburgh, we’ve brought in additional resource to support the team.

"We understand this is a really frustrating situation for passengers and we’re working closely with our airline and airport partners to securely process these bags as fast as we can.”