Edinburgh Airport baggage disruption: Which airlines are affected? What’s causing the delays and mislaid bags?
Passengers flying with some airlines into and out of Edinburgh Airport are suffering significant baggage disruption – but which carriers are affected and what’s causing the problems?
Angry and upset travellers have contacted The Scotsman having endured long waits for their luggage at baggage reclaim after landing at Scotland’s busiest airport. Others have been even more annoyed after flying from Edinburgh to find their bags have not reached their destination and have been mislaid.
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Hide AdThey have sent photos of baggage piling up in the terminal, even outside the reclaim area on the “landside” of the building outside the secure zone.


For some holidaymakers and other fliers, the situation will bring back unwelcome memories of last summer at the airport, when passengers were greeted with similar scenes.
This is despite the airport and major airlines expressing confidence there would be no repeat of such disruption this year after lessons were learned and seasonal staff recruited earlier.
What is the current problem at Edinburgh Airport?
There appear to be several, separate issues, but the main one is with Swissport, one of three handling agents at the airport, which is responsible for check-in, baggage and other services such as aircraft steps for 26 airlines there, including Ryanair, Edinburgh’s biggest, which carries one in three of its passengers.
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Swissport is understood to be having recruitment difficulties and is short of both staff and equipment such as luggage crates and trailers to move bage between the terminal and aircraft. The shortage has been linked to increased passenger abuse of staff, which prompted the GMB union to threaten a strike ballot, which has since been lifted.
Swissport has drafted in what’s thought to be dozens of experienced extra staff from other airports in an attempt to resolve the problem.
Which airlines is Swissport the handling agent for?
Aegean Airlines
Air Canada
Air France
Aer Lingus
Albastar
Atlantic Airlines
Balkan Holidays
Brussels Airlines
Delta
Eurowings
Finnair
Freebird
Hainan Airlines
Jet2
KLM
Lauda
Norwegian
Qatar
Ryanair
SAS
Transavia
TUI
Turkish Airlines
Virgin Atlantic
WestJet
Wizz Air
How about the other airlines – who are their handling agents?
Easyjet, Edinburgh’s second biggest airline, is handled by WFS. The remaining ten airlines are handled by Menzies Aviation:
Air Baltic
British Airways
Edelweiss
Iberia
Loganair
Lufthansa
Sun Express
Titan Airways
United Airlines
Vueling Airlines
What is the airport doing?
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Hide AdThe airport’s staff are not directly responsible for check-in or baggage, but it has issued Swissport with a deficiency notice – a bit like a yellow card – requiring a remedial plan within days. It is understood the plan is still being worked on, but a source said the situation was “improving”.
Are there other baggage problems at Edinburgh Airport?
To make matters worse – and more complicated, yes, it appears so. The airport said it had suffered a knock-on effect from difficulties at other airports, including in other countries. This is understood to include baggage bound for other airports being diverted to Edinburgh instead, for onward transit. Full details of this have yet to emerge, including which handling agents it is affecting.
What about Scotland’s other major airports, Glasgow and Aberdeen?
It is understood that AGS, which runs them along with Southampton, is not aware of any baggage problems at its airports.
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