A frustrated pilot has taken matters into his own hands amid chaotic scenes at an airport as borders open and travel resumes.
This is the moment a frustrated pilot helped load luggage onto his plane in Edinburgh amid a summer of travel chaos across Britain.
There have been chaotic scenes at UK airports for weeks, with some passengers only being told their holidays had been canceled after arriving at the terminals.
And after facing delays to take off, a captain came out of the cockpit to help load travelers’ luggage onto a plane from Scotland’s capital Edinburgh to Zurich, Switzerland.
Elsewhere, dramatic photos showed hundreds of bags dumped at London’s Heathrow Terminal 2 as exhausted tourists had to return home without their belongings, The sun reports.
Trouble at the UK’s busiest airport began on Friday, with bosses blaming a malfunction in the baggage system which they described as a “technical problem”.
The backlog has since caused a ‘luggage carpet’, with suitcases left on airport floors at the start of the UK’s busy summer travel period.
Customers have been warned that they may not collect their bags for several days.
A spokesman admitted there were “continuing disruptions”.
And the situation will likely persist for weeks after the airport cut passenger capacity by a third through July in a bid to stem the flow of people passing through its terminals.
Without measures in place, its buildings would not be safe, the chiefs warn.
“We unreservedly apologize for the technical issues with our baggage systems which affected passengers over the weekend,” they said.
“We are working around the clock with the airlines to reunite passengers with their luggage as quickly as possible.
“There may be persistent disturbances of [Friday’s] technical baggage issues and we ask passengers to check with their airlines before traveling to the airport.
Flightmare at Stansted
Huge queues were also built in Stansted, northeast London, on Sunday, forcing passengers to sleep on the floor overnight as flights were delayed by more than six hours.
Irish budget airline Ryanair is one of the main airlines to serve this busy airport, but customers have complained of poor service and huge queues.
A potential traveler said his flight was due to leave at 5pm last night but was still waiting to depart after 11pm.
Another said the situation at 3am looked like a ‘shootout’, with ‘no rules’ and ‘bodies strewn on the floor’.
Stansted officials said 38,000 people are expected to leave the airport today, while average wait times between 4am and 7am were around 12 minutes.
However, the problems were exacerbated by the cancellation of Stansted Express trains and the illness of staff.
Gatwick Airport announced this week that it will cancel 4,000 flights this summer.
Daily flights will be capped at 825 in July and 850 in August – up from 900 per day during the same period in previous years.
This means around 80,000 people will have their summer plans ruined.
easyJet and British Airways are among the companies that have cut many short-haul flights from the hub.
The Summer of Travelers’ Discontent
UK travel disarray led to tragedy earlier this week, when a disabled man left waiting on plane fell to death in Gatwick’s North Terminal.
Meanwhile Manchester Airport has urged passengers to arrive even earlier after disruptions and long security queues.
It comes as British travelers face a ‘summer of discontent’, with nationwide railway strikes and petrol hitting $3.53 a litre.
Many airlines laid off staff during the pandemic when there was a drop in passenger numbers.
However, with the end of restrictions, airports and travel agencies are struggling to cope with a surge in business.
Industry figures have blamed the UK government, calling on ministers to offer more support so the problems don’t drag on into the summer.
John Holland-Kaye, chief executive of Heathrow, has warned that it will take 12 to 18 months before the industry can regain capacity to pre-pandemic levels.
But Transport Secretary Grant Shapps has lobbied airports to raise wages for workers, including baggage handlers.
Speaking to Sky News, he said: “If you look at baggage handlers, for example, I don’t think they’ve had the best deals and packages in the past.
“I think we need to make these jobs interesting, well-paying and comfortable to do.”
This story originally appeared on The sun and is republished here with permission
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