Bags left behind amid Gatwick power disruption

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Car Rental News - 12/03/2012

 

Thousands of Gatwick passengers’ bags were stuck on the ground at the weekend due to an electrical outage.

The West Essex airport saw the disruption begin at around 03:30 BST on Saturday, when the loss of electricity in Gatwick’s North Terminal brought the facility’s baggage system and carousels to a standstill. The airport’s operators quickly brought in extra staff to help move bags by hand, although dozens of flights were nonetheless forced to depart without passengers’ luggage. However, all charter flights were held up in the effort of ensuring all luggage and cargo was taken to its destination.

Workers were able to keep the delay limited to a seven-hour period, as power was restored to the terminal at around 10:30 BST. All passengers were advised to check with their airlines regarding possible bag delays.

A spokeswoman said on behalf of Gatwick airport that the outage had been caused by an issue in one of the nearby electrical substations. She said that about 2,000 bags had been left behind and said they would put on the next available flight.

More than 20,000 passengers flew from Gatwick on Saturday.

Among those whose bags were stranded was the Escala string quartet – a current contestant on Britain’s Got Talent. Performer Nick Warren said to BBC reporters that all of the groups checked items had been delayed, which contained some of the equipment they needed for their scheduled performance in Portugal.

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