Everyone’s Baggage Gets Left Behind on Ryanair Flight, Passengers Furious
Jackie Reddy July 21, 2017
The budget carrier says that a fault at BHX resulted in several planes departing without travelers’ checked luggage.
Travelers on a Ryanair flight from Birmingham Airport (BHX) to Malta were left angry and bereft after a problem with a conveyor belt resulted in all of the plane’s baggage being left behind at BHX, the Birmingham Mail reports. The incident occurred on Tuesday on Valletta-bound Ryanair Flight 3091, which departed BHX at 7 a.m. local time and landed on the Mediterranean island at 11 a.m. local time the same day.
Passenger Alan Moran was on the flight and told the outlet that he and his wife, along with all of the other travelers on the plane, were left waiting for a considerable time for their luggage to appear. “We weren’t the only ones watching the empty conveyor belt go round and round for over an hour. None of the 150 or so passengers’ luggage had made it to Valletta and there was uproar,” he said.
“There was total confusion and nobody from Ryanair told us what was happening. We presumed our luggage had been loaded into the wrong airplane at Birmingham Airport or it never made it onto any plane at all,” Moran, a financial consultant, added.
He and his wife waited for their luggage at Malta International Airport (MLA) for over three hours until finally heading to their hotel. Moran said that Ryanair did not immediately attempt to explain or clarify the situation, with the flight’s luggage arriving on Wednesday morning, a day after the couple themselves arrived in Malta.
“It’s over 24 hours late and we still don’t know why. Ryanair have failed to keep us informed and we don’t know if it will compensate us for the stress and delays,” Moran added.
However, a spokesperson for the carrier stated that, “Due to a baggage belt failure at Birmingham Airport yesterday (18 July), several airline flights were unable to depart with checked-in baggage, including this flight to Malta. Customers were informed upon arrival in Malta and all baggage was transferred to Malta this morning and delivered to affected customers. Ryanair sincerely apologized to all customers affected by this baggage delay, which was entirely beyond our control.”
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Totally unprofessional response, just bureaucratic spin. Ryanair should have told the passengers before the flight left instead of willfully hiding it. Flyers would do well to consider using professional airlines. Rookies don't cut it. Years ago I was flying out of Alaska to Hawaii on a Hawaiian Vacations, Hawaiian Airlines charter, it was summertime. Before taking off we were told "Due to weight and balance issues a few bags were not loaded. All fresh fish would be stored in freezers until the next flight tomorrow." On arrival in Honolulu, a few bags turned into about 60 passengers. Airline had willfully to the passengers, did not see anything wrong about being totally honest. Their standard. Next day I went to the airport to retrieve my fish filled coolers. They were in perfect condition. While I was waiting I saw a baggage person wheel out some leaking cardboard boxes filled with now rotten fish. Passenger was not happy, filed damage claim against the airline for willful incompetence. Turned out the airline willfully lied to us again. Baggage flew from Anchorage to west coast, hours delay, then flight to Honolulu. No way would frozen fish in a box survive that extended flight time of around 14 hours. Flight time from ANC to HNL is 6 hours. Sad to say many airlines have the policy of not being honest.