Edinburgh Airport baggage reclaim nightmare: Firms blame each other for lengthy waits
Family suffers delays of more than an hour to collect their bags on four flights at the airport this summer
Aviation firms at Edinburgh Airport have blamed each other for repeated baggage delays this summer which included a family waiting at least an hour to collect their luggage after four separate flights.
The snapshot of conditions at Scotland’s busiest airport comes a week after a passenger survey by consumer group Which? rated it the worst of 27 across the UK for baggage reclaim waits.
The Martin family, of Broughty Ferry, had to wait up to 90 minutes for their bags after arriving on Ryanair and Jet2 flights between May and September. The latter also involved a 30-minute delay to disembark from the aircraft.
Swissport, which handles baggage and aircraft steps at the airport for the two airlines, apologised but blamed the hold-ups on delays at the airport.
Figures obtained by The Scotsman show the punctuality of incoming flights on three of the dates involved was between 51.5 and 64.4 per cent, which an aviation source described as “pretty low”.
Airport officials said there had been “no reported issues” on those days, while stating that Swissport was in charge of baggage and stairs from aircraft for Jet2.
However, they later clarified that “reported issues” did not include arriving flight delays.
Stan Martin, 75, said: “On these occasions this summer my family have had very poor service from the baggage handlers at Edinburgh.
“This is not the first time, as I began writing to the management team at the airport many years ago, with no reply.
“We have experienced delays in parking the plane, no steps to descend from the plane and long delays at security and luggage.
Mr Martin said his family had waited an hour after arrival for their baggage from a Ryanair flight on May 12, 80 minutes after another Ryanair flight on August 14 and 90 minutes after a third Ryanair flight on September 1.
He also said after a Jet2 flight on July 5, his nephew Craig and family waited ten minutes for their plane to get to a stand after landing on time at 1.45am, then a further 20 minutes for stairs to disembark followed by a 90-minute delay at the baggage carousel for their cases to appear.
Mr Martin said: “They were told by a Jet2 rep the cases were off the plane but there was nobody to drive the lorry to the terminal, which meant they didn’t get home with two young children, aged seven and two, until 5.30am.
“The management of the resource in key areas appears to be non-existent, with no accountability.
“We feel frustration at the delays and the fact this issue has existed for years and management have done nothing to improve the situation.”
A spokesperson for Swissport said: “The flights referenced operated on days when there were delays at Edinburgh Airport which had a significant knock-on effect on baggage delivery.
“We apologise for the inconvenience caused to passengers affected by this situation and worked closely with our airline customers to minimise disruption and ensure baggage was delivered as quickly as possible.”
A spokesperson from Jet2: “Swissport is our ground handling provider at Edinburgh Airport and is responsible for the baggage handling operation.
“We worked closely with Swissport on each occasion to ensure customers’ baggage was delivered as quickly as possible.”
But an Edinburgh Airport spokesperson said: “Baggage is the responsibility of an airline’s contracted handling agent. There were no reported issues on these days.”
They said Swissport was in charge of stairs and getting baggage to the terminal for Jet2 - not the airport.
Ryanair was approached for comment.
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