Staff corridors at Scotland’s biggest airport are being crammed full of luggage – with employees saying there’s nowhere else for it to go. Union bosses say the situation has created an “unsuitable and unsafe working environment” for staff.
This picture, taken at Edinburgh Airport yesterday morning, shows dozens of suitcases and bags lying abandoned in restricted areas. Staff say there is nowhere else they can store passengers’ belongings due to the huge amount of baggage passing through the airport.
There are so many suitcases and bags still to be reclaimed by passengers in the corridors that it is difficult for wheelchairs to pass. And the pile-ups, also said to be happening at Glasgow Airport, are being blamed on industry bosses and government officials.
The GMB union said their inaction has led to chaos following a boom in aviation after the slump brought on by the pandemic. Thousands more people are jetting off on holiday this summer compared with last year but the union says many firms have failed to take on more staff after paying people off during the pandemic.
GMB Scotland organiser Robert Deavy said: “This is what a failure to prepare for the return of travellers looks like and the blame rests with the industry and Government.
“They were well warned by unions the aviation sector would bounce back but calls for a sector package were ignored by political leaders, while the industry grabbed furlough money before making mass redundancies.
“Staff that remain are being left to deal with an unsustainable and unsafe working environment, while the public are being failed by firms who think they can return to business as usual on a shoestring and governments who have buried their heads in the sand.”
A spokesperson for Glasgow Airport said: “No staff corridors are being used to store passengers’ luggage at Glasgow Airport. In some instances, baggage has arrived late in Glasgow due to issues at other airports. These bags, for whatever reason, did not make it onto their intended flights to Glasgow and arrived separately. The airlines and their baggage handling companies, who are responsible for baggage, are in the process of delivering the bags to passengers who arrived earlier in the week.
A spokesperson for Edinburgh Airport said: “We know airlines and handling agents have been working hard to reunite passengers with their baggage. We’re doing what we can to support them in this, and this includes access to secure designated storage areas on campus.
“This is a challenging time for the entire aviation industry and we continue to support all our partners.”
A spokesperson for Transport Scotland, Scotland’s national transport agency, said: “This is a matter for Edinburgh Airport.”
We previously told how a Scots mum claimed to witness thousands of abandoned cases lying around at Edinburgh Airport after her luggage went missing at the busy travel hub.
Margaret Brennan and her husband, from Callander, boarded a British Airways flight to London City on Friday morning for a posh work event.
But when the 54-year-old landed, she discovered her case had failed to follow her onto the plane and remained in Edinburgh amidst widespread baggage chaos across UK airports.
The mum-of-two claims she was told her bag would be sent out via courier to her weekend accommodation by Saturday at the latest.
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