A man travelling to Spain for a friend’s birthday has told of the “nightmare” start to his trip after arriving at the airport to a bizarre scene.
He explained that when they disembarked the flight, passengers arrived to see their suitcases strewn across the floor instead of on the conveyor belt.
Phil Burke, who flew in from Manchester, had just landed in Malaga Airport and was about to pick up his luggage when he saw the sea of scattered suitcases.
Passengers were informed that the conveyor belt was no longer working and so, everyone had to sort through the luggage themselves.
Mr. Burke, who lives in Rochdale and works as councillor, told Manchester Evening News that there was no staff around to help and that some holidaymakers had even stuck their heads through the entrance to the conveyor belt to ask for some help, but go no response.
"It’s been a bit of a nightmare," he said.
“We were 20 minutes late with leaving, but we got through security alright. We went downstairs [at Malaga] and two conveyors had stopped.
“There were 60 or 70 bags all over the floor. People had to go through the bags themselves.
“There was no-one around to ask for assistance. It only needed a key to turn it back on. It took 25 minutes to get a rep from Tui to come down — he said they were fixing the other one.
“People were sticking their heads through the gap to shout to get their bags sorted. They had connections [to catch].”
It took Phil 25 minutes to find his back but he confirmed that nothing had been damaged of lost in the chaos.
However, there was added pressure for some to sift through the luggage quickly as another flight from Leeds-Bradford was set to land shortly after - adding to the pile of suitcases.
Phil continued: “What started out to be a nice break to celebrate someone’s birthday — we have been 20 minutes late and this. I just felt sorry for the people have to make connections.
“There was no help whatsoever. It took about 25 minutes [to get my bag]. I have got it, I’m alright. There were still quite a few people after me.”
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