Manchester Airport passengers stuck on tarmac for 'more than two HOURS because no staff to load baggage'

Passengers who boarded a plane at Manchester Airport say they waited more than two hours on the tarmac for baggage handlers to load their luggage. Stephen Davies, 63, from Bolton, says the Ryanair flight to Budapest was due to depart at 3.40pm on Wednesday.

But after the aircraft arrived an hour late, passengers were not able to board until after 5pm - and were then stuck on the tarmac for two hours and 15 minutes because, according to a message relayed by the pilot, baggage agent Swissport - which operates separately and with a different management team to Manchester Airport - didn’t have the handlers to unload the bags.

Property developer Stephen, who reports arriving into Budapest three hours and 15 minutes late, says he’s fed up of the ‘staff shortage’ reason given for what he believes is poor service, adding: “Initially the pilot said we'd be 25 minutes late, but then he said he wasn't getting any news at all. Eventually we waited more than two hours."

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He added: "I missed half a day. It’s cost me £200 because I had to stay the night in a hotel when I got to Budapest because I missed the onward connection and I couldn’t get to my meeting in the morning.

"There were other planes taking off on time, we could see them loading the baggage. I think staff shortage is now used as an excuse for incompetence. It’s just one thing after another with Manchester Airport. It’s unbelievable.

“I have travelled through hundreds of airports around the world and Manchester is by far the worst. I live in Hungary and travel through Budapest quite regularly - typically it takes no more than five minutes to go through security