A “huge luggage rug” was spotted in front of a terminal at the UK’s busiest airport as staff struggled with a “continuing luggage system problem”.
The scene was recorded by Deborah Haynes, a defense and security correspondent for Sky News, as she left Heathrow’s Terminal 2 after arriving early in the evening from Brussels.
She said: “The warning signs that everything was wrong were clear when packing.
“There were piles of suitcases without owners, grouped around different conveyor belts.
– I was wondering where the owners are.
Haynes was asked to put her hand luggage in the trunk of the plane before the flight, as there was no room on board.
Fortunately, she said she only had to wait “a little” after her arrival.
But she added: “When I went outside, I could see this crazy table of suitcases filling the sidewalk like a huge luggage rug.
“I have never seen anything like it.
“Although it seemed that he was trying to organize chaos.
“Officials seem to be trying to arrange the suitcases next to pillars with letters of the alphabet glued to them – they may have had to match the name of the owner of each bag.
“It seemed like an epic task.”
A Heathrow spokesman said: “There is an ongoing problem with the luggage system in Terminal 2.
“Therefore, there may be some congestion in the registration areas at the terminal.
“We are very sorry for the disruption to our passengers and we would like to assure them that we are working hard to resolve this as soon as possible.
Sky News International Affairs Editor Dominique Waghorn was at the same terminal on Friday night and said: “Passengers are told they may not receive their luggage for two days.
“A passenger was heard saying, ‘but I’m going up Kilimanjaro tomorrow, I need all my things.’
This comes after weeks of travel chaos, with various airports in the UK and across Europe struggling to cope with the peak summer season while workers are missing.
The airlines are facing the same staffing problems, leading to hundreds of cancellations in the last month.
Earlier, Heathrow CEO John Holland-Kay told Sky News that airport passengers had encountered only minor delays.
He defended the industry against criticism of its failure to cope with the return of passenger demand after two years of blocking COVID.
Also Friday, Gatwick Airport announced it was limiting its daily flights to 825 in July and 850 in August to help passengers “experience a more reliable and better standard of service” after reviewing their operations.
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