Nightmare as East Midlands Airport passengers 52 hours into holidays without luggage

L to R bottom row: George Dale, Mary Smith, Marc Batley. L to R top row: Lois Dale, Pat Neary, Jason Pritchett outside their hotel
-Credit: (Image: Submitted)


Frustrated East Midlands Airport passengers say their holidays have become a "nightmare" as the fate of their luggage remains unknown days after leaving the UK. Passengers have arrived at destinations including Faro and Tunisia without fresh clothes and crucial medications.

East Midlands Airport confirmed that a baggage system fault had caused issues to 17 flights on Sunday (September 15), with seven Jet2, five TUI and five Ryanair flights suffering delays. A spokesperson said at the time that passengers could expect to be reunited with their luggage in 24 hours, yet many have been without their belongings for as long as 52 hours.

The pilot on a TUI flight to Tunisia on Sunday morning reportedly told his 189 passengers over the tannoy that only 27 cases were on the plane. With this message being delivered before the plane had even taken off, passengers were left baffled as to why they were leaving.

Most of them say they would have much rather had a delay to their holiday than fly to sunnier climes without their essentials. Pat Neary, 59, from Ilkeston, said: "There are eleven passengers from that flight in our hotel and nine of us are still missing luggage.

"We're at an all-inclusive so you don't bring a lot of money with you, but then a lot of shops around here don't take card so it's been a bit of a nightmare." Mr Neary says he has heard that passengers are being offered up to £100 compensation per missing bag.

Also in Mr Neary's hotel is Jason Pritchett, from Ilkeston, 55, who said: "My wife has got her luggage back but I haven't and I'm literally still in what I arrived in. We're told to relax and enjoy our holiday but you can't relax, because all day you see coaches pull up and wonder if it's your luggage."

Mr Pritchett says his wife had to lend another woman her medication given that the two happened to be on the same one. None of the holidaymakers have any idea when they might be reunited with their belongings.

In Faro, Portugal, 35-year-old Joe Walters is also having a stressful holiday with his wife and two-year-old daughter. The Ilkeston resident also flew out on Sunday and remains without his luggage as of Tuesday (September 17). He said: "You ask for updates and we just get told that TUI can't do anything about it. It's been horrendous.

"We've already racked up about £300 buying stuff. Me and my wife both have stressful jobs and we came on holiday to relax, but this has just doubled our stress levels.

"We'd been sat on the runway for two hours and we actually saw someone bring the luggage to put it on the plane, before it was taken away again and the plane took off."

Mr Walters and some of the passengers to Tunisia said they had to queue for hours at their destination airport to provide information about their missing luggage, meaning they were severely delayed getting to their hotels. An East Midlands Airport spokesperson said the Tunisia passengers were among the last to have their baggage issues resolved, but that all luggage affected by Sunday's issues has now left the airport.

The spokesperson said: "Unfortunately we experienced a baggage system fault on Sunday morning which affected 17 departing flights. This caused some delays and some flights had to leave without passenger luggage on board.

"We have been working with airlines to resolve this and baggage for all affected flights has now left the airport. Our baggage system is back up and running and flights are departing as normal.

"Anyone affected by Sunday's issue is encouraged to contact their airline in the first instance if they are experiencing ongoing difficulties. We apologise for any inconvenience these problems caused our customers."