Edinburgh Airport: Baggage handler Swissport moves lost luggage to temporary facility at Royal Highland Centre

Airline passengers have been impacted by lost luggage at the airport with some reporting delays of several weeks for their luggage to be returned.

Passengers have faced delays at conveyor belts and lost luggage with the return of suitcases the responsibility of the airlines, not the airport.

In order to deal with the vast amount of unclaimed bags, handler Swissport have now moved luggage from the airport terminal to the Royal Highland Centre with hundreds of cases held at Lowland Hall facility at Ingliston.

Passengers whose luggage was handled by Swissport can now attend a temporary baggage facility at the Royal Highland Centre to collect delayed bags. , Picture Lisa Ferguson

The temporary depot will be open each day from 9am to 5pm and parking is available at Car Park 6.Swissport is responsible for the handling of luggage from Aegean Airlines, Air Canada, Air France, Aer Lingus, Atlantic Airlines, Balkan Brussels Airlines, Delta, Eurowings, Finnair, Jet2, KLM, Norwegian, Qatar, Ryanair, SAS, Transavia, TUI, Turkish Airlines, Virgin Atlantic and Wizz Air

To secure their lost luggage, passengers must take along their luggage tags and identification to access the area, and no appointment is required to attend.

Swissport have warned that there may be a slight delay at peak times as they work to deal with requests.

A Swissport spokesperson said: "We apologise to passengers who’ve experienced delays to the return of their baggage at Edinburgh Airport. In busy periods such as the current peak travel time, the knock-on effects of delays across the travel process, such as air traffic issues, short-shipped luggage and late changes to flight schedules, can create challenging conditions for baggage handlers.

Swissport say there may be a slight delay at peak times as they work to deal with requests, so passengers are thanked in advance for their patience.

"We have brought in additional staff to help our team and are updating passengers with details of our secure baggage repatriation facility at Ingliston to ensure we can reunite them with their baggage as soon as possible.”

Lost luggage has caused significant impact for weeks at the airport affecting passengers and even golf professional with some forced to play without their clubs – and some even pulling out of events due to the baggage situation.

Scottish golfer Neil Fenwick was forced to pull out of an event in Germany, after his clubs were lost.

He had to withdraw from the Challenge Tour, with his place in the field being filled by Scott Henry, a fellow Scot.

Passengers whose luggage was handled by Swissport can now attend a temporary baggage facility at the Royal Highland Centre to collect delayed bags.

He told The Scotsman: “It’s been a disaster.

“My clubs never arrived and, with only eight starts, I felt there was no point in wasting one playing with a cobbled-together set.

“It’s a nightmare for me and I’m gutted but feel I had to make the decision to give me best chances to make use of my starts.

Unclaimed bags have been moved from the airport terminal and taken by Swissport to the secure Lowland Hall facility at Ingliston. This will be open each day from 0900 to 1700 and parking is available at Car Park 6. Picture; Lisa Ferguson

“Travel is a nightmare at the moment it and seems I got unlucky on Monday at Edinburgh, which was a complete disaster earlier in the week.”

Canadian pro Mackenzie Hughes was amongst several golfers who lost their bags on their travels back from the 150th Open Championship in St Andrews. He was left trying to track down eight of his family's bags, after they didn’t arrive in Dublin following his flight from Edinburgh.

There were also issues at the airport prior to The Open with new clubs having to be made for Norwegian golfer Viktor Hovland, after his own didn’t arrive in time for game play.

Venezuelan-born pro Jhonattan Vegas was forced to play the first few rounds of the Genesis Scottish Open in North Berwick without his clubs after his bags were also lost.

On Tuesday, travellers were forced to wait outside for their bags in blistering heat, as luggage handler Swissport opened their airport based facility to try and clear a backlog of unclaimed baggage. However, many were turned away and asked to return the next day.

Swissport has not been the only baggage handler with issues in the airport.

Musselburgh local Martin Gray has been without his bag for over a week, after handlers Menzies failed to return it.

He loaded his case onto the Lufthansa check-in belt in Venice on July 10, and while his partners arrived in Edinburgh, his never showed.

Mr Gray said: “Since then we've spent hours on the phone to Lufthansa handling agent Menzies. No answer, no messages returned.

"We finally called in at the Menzies warehouse near the airport a couple of days ago and found some overworked staff members.

"They were lovely, and filed a Property Irregularity Report, something we should have had the day we arrived, but having had no communication from anyone - Edinburgh Airport, Menzies or Lufthansa after that initial contact - it never happened.

He added: “Losing the bag is annoying - my favourite shoes are in there, and some medication, but it's not a matter of life and death in my instance.

"I feel for the tourists at the start of their holidays, and families left without buggies.

"The basic problem is lack of communication - there's no excuse.”

Edinburgh Airport are not responsible for baggage, as this is managed by handling agents for airlines, with Swissport, Menzies and WFS being based in Edinburgh.

A spokesperson for Edinburgh Airport said: “Although large amounts of baggage had been anticipated on Monday, the volume of golf clubs which required processing was far higher than forecast. This caused a delay in the baggage system however this was resolved and all bags were processed by Tuesday morning.

“Handling agents are now working hard to repatriate bags with their owners, and we are doing what we can to support them in this.

"These are challenging times for the entire aviation industry. We thank passengers for their patience and apologise for any inconvenience caused."