Passengers were left fuming when their plane took off for Madrid with no luggage aboard, leaving them only with the clothes on their backs.
The Iberia Express flight took off from Manchester Airport without anyone’s bags owing to a lack of handling agents.
Passengers arriving in the Spanish capital waited for an hour at the carousel for their bags to arrive before being told it was all still in the UK.
Today, three days on from the start of their holiday, people are still waiting for their belongings to arrive, Manchester Evening News reported.
Among those left in the lurch are married couple Javi and Ellen Roca who had flown to Spain to see Javi’s parents for his birthday.
Ellen, a nurse, said: “We waited for half an hour at the carousel…and] then [went] to the service desk. There were old people, lots of people in wheelchairs and babies. It was chaos
None of the baggage had been put on the plan.
“The next morning they said they did not have any information. They still have no idea. The global baggage tracking system has no information. The whole flight’s bags were not packed.
“The only communication is when Javi called them, and they said we can buy back essentials. All we have is the clothes we had on the flight. Everything was in the hold.
“Every time we call they say they have no information. They have not given us any information and just keep saying they are looking for it.
“They just say it has not been scanned into the system. It has not been touched by a baggage handler.”
Another passenger, who have his name as Geoff, added: “It’s astonishing.
“It’s somewhere. There has to be a point where someone says ‘leave it with me’ and they ring someone and say to them ‘Dave, you know those 200 pieces of luggage, what should we do with them?’“
“How difficult can it be? It’s a big pile of luggage!”
Iberia Express says the bags were on Wednesday’s flight- but sun-seekers still do not know exactly when they will be reunited with their possessions.
A spokesman for the airline said: “On the 11th of September on flight IB3693 MAN-MAD, the checked baggage could not be loaded onto the aeroplane due to the lack of handling agents from our handling provider in Manchester.
“Upon arrival in Madrid, we informed all of the passengers about the lack of checked luggage and it was explained to them all essential expenses incurred can be claimed back and reimbursed by the company once they have been analysed.
“Tonight, we are operating the first MAN-MAD flight since Sunday (I23693 MAN-MAD 14SEP 21:15-0:45H) in which all of the bags will be regularised and delivered to the passengers as soon as possible.
“We regret any inconvenience this may have caused.”
