Gatwick Airport suffered a technical fault which saw its North Terminal luggage belt break down today. Planes have been forced to take off without passengers’ bags while huge delays have built up on the ground. easyJet customers are among the worst affected. Gatwick apologised for “any inconvenience” caused by the “technical issue” and said engineers were working to fix the problem “as quickly as possible”. The issue is now resolved but continues to impact fliers. Passengers have taken to social media to complain of the travel chaos at the London hub.
“Missed flight due to belt failure. EasyJet said we need to join a huge queue to possibly rebook one that leaves in nine hours!” one frustrated traveller tweeted to Gatwick.
“It’s not possible, I have a baby and pregnant poorly wife and we’ve had to go home and cancel the trip. Devastated. How do we get refunded?”
“No baggage on our flight, no one at airport knew what’s happening. Lost luggage site broken. What do we do?” another flier wrote on Twitter.
“What an absolute disaster! Its all well not having clothes to change into but what about the epilepsy medication we need!” a third person tweeted.
easyJet have confirmed to Express.co.uk that the belt is running again and they are working to repatriate bags to their destination.
“Due to a baggage belt failure at London Gatwick’s North Terminal, easyJet is experiencing delays at bag drop and in the delivery of hold luggage to departing aircraft,” an airline spokeswoman told Express.co.uk.
“Unfortunately this has resulted in some flights departing without all luggage stowed in the hold.
“Any passengers who have missed flights because of the resulting congestion at bag drop are being offered free transfers to alternative flights.
“We are both working closely with the airport team to minimise the disruption and return luggage to our passengers as soon as possible.
“easyJet is providing regular updates on our website and Flight Tracker and strongly recommends all passengers travelling to and from London Gatwick today to allow extra time for bag drop due to possible delays. We would like to thank passengers for their understanding and apologise for any inconvenience caused.”
It is unlikely travellers with benefit from compensation as the baggage belt failure is considered “an extraordinary circumstance.”
However, fliers should check their travel insurance policy to check in case they could be owed any compensation.
A Gatwick spokesperson told Express.co.uk: “An earlier issue with the check-in baggage system in Gatwick’s North Terminal has been resolved and the airport is operating as normal.
“A number of flights left without luggage as a result of this morning’s fault, however these bags are currently being repatriated and will be returned to passengers as soon as possible. Gatwick would like to apologise to any passengers who have been inconvenienced as a result of this issue.”
In further aviation news, police have released data on the number of arrests at each UK airport between 1 April 2017 and 31 March 2019.
Heathrow tops the list – the only UK airport to reach three figures – at 103. Gatwick Airport, also near London, is a close second with 81 arrests.
In total, nearly 450 airline passengers have been arrested on suspicion of being drunk, during the two years.
Sky News reported figures from FOI requests showed 45 people were arrested on suspicion of being drunk at a UK airport between 1 April 2017 and 31 March 2019. A further 204 arrests were made relating to supposed drunkenness on planes.