Manchester Airport passengers fly abroad without luggage and dozens of bags 'abandoned' in 'shameful mess'

Piles of 'abandoned' luggage are continuing to mount up as chaos continues at Manchester Airport. Pictures showed dozens of unattended suitcases left in the baggage reclaim area at the crisis-hit airport yesterday evening.

One woman said she had been waiting "for hours" to collect her luggage. She said labels on some of the unattended luggage suggested they had been left there for several days.

Another passenger said they waited two hours for their belongings after landing at Terminal 2 in the early hours of Sunday. They added: "Customers were complaining and were informed it was either a staffing issue or a power failure on the aircraft.

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"Customers were invited to submit a missing bag claim so they could leave and have their bags couriered to them which could take up to three weeks. Around the hall were abandoned suitcases from other flights. It’s a shameful disorganised mess at the moment."

Baggage issues have also been impacting passengers flying out of Manchester. Perry Freeman landed in Zurich on Friday but only received his luggage yesterday evening.

Meanwhile, the 61-year-old said he spent £150 on replacement clothes and toiletries. "It's been a nightmare," he said. "We have to pack our cases tomorrow for heading home.

"It was a waste of time coming here. There's not much you can do without your gear. All my medication and cables for charging my phone were in my bag.

"You don't expect to pay £70 and have your bags delivered several days later. I'm never going to use Manchester Airport again, it's that bad."

Holidaymakers slammed the airport after waiting more than two hours to collect their luggage over the weekend.