Why are UK airports struggling so much with lost luggage?

As the summer holiday season ramps up, passengers travelling through airports up and down the country have been beset by luggage issues, from long delays at baggage reclaim, to being asked to drop bags off the day before a flight, to luggage going missing altogether. With tensions already running high as a result of flight delays and cancellations, these problems only compound the stress currently being suffered by holidaymakers.

The problems are likely to get worse with as UK schools break up for their summer holidays at the end of July, and a huge wave of families sets off on trips abroad. In the more immediate term, there’s the threat of strike action by British Airways ground handling staff at Heathrow Airport.

So why it is happening and how are airline and airport executives going to address these challenges?

Here’s everything you need to know.

Which airports are struggling with lost and delayed luggage?

Over the past few weeks, passengers arriving on some flights to Manchester, Bristol, Birmingham, Glasgow, London Gatwick and London Heathrow airports have had to wait longer than usual for their luggage. Passengers have been seen sleeping at baggage reclaim while others have gone home empty handed on the advice of airlines and wait to be contacted.

At the end of May, some British Airways passengers travelling from Gatwick and Heathrow were asked by the airline to come to the airport the evening before their flight to check in their luggage ahead of time. And earlier this month, a malfunction in Heathrow’s baggage handling system caused huge pile ups of luggage around the airport and significant delays to passengers.

How long are passengers having to wait?

Waits of around two hours are common in the event of delayed baggage, though there have been reports of passengers waiting up six hours for their cases – or even being sent home and being told not to expect to receive them for up to two weeks.

Why are so many bags going missing?

The main issue is a lack of ground handling staff, with airports having failed to replace workers made redundant during the pandemic. This is partly down to having underestimated the demand for foreign travel this summer – the first uninterrupted summer season since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic – and partly an effect of wider labour shortages caused by Brexit.

Some airlines and airports have found it difficult to recruit new staff now European workers need a British visa in order to be employed here. Other industry…