Birmingham Airport apologises after hundreds of passengers fly out without their luggage

Birmingham Airport has apologised for baggage issues that meant hundreds of outbound passengers flying out without their luggage.

Holidaymakers have been left abroad with nothing more than the clothes they were travelling in, after the unspecified issue with the airport’s baggage systems.

One man from Staffordshire told the BBC his bags did not arrive in Rome with him on Friday (August 7), one of them having been taken to Liverpool’s John Lennon Airport and another to Manchester. Simon Leyland from Barton-under-Needwood said: "There are 30 other people on our cruise in a similar position.”

On Friday afternoon Birmingham Airport said engineers were addressing the issue and apologised for the inconvenience caused.

“We are experiencing an issue with our baggage systems which is impacting some outbound luggage,” a spokesperson said.

“Engineers are on site and working to resolve this issue as quickly as possible. Terminal colleagues are also working hard to ensure baggage in terminal is being processed as quickly as possible.

“We expect this to cause inconvenience for some passengers, and we sincerely apologise for this.”

In an update on Sunday morning the airport said “the vast majority of baggage” was now travelling with passengers.

“Whilst issues are remaining, the vast majority of baggage is travelling as planned with passengers,” the statement on X said.

“We are working with our airlines and third parties to reunite luggage with passengers as fast as possible and we are sincerely sorry for the inconvenience and stress this has caused some of our passengers.”