Baggage, Airports | Luggage chaos like no other at Norwegian airports: – It ruins the trip
(Online newspaper) Imran Munsab from Bærum was going to a wedding in London when he flew from Oslo airport Gardermoen to Stansted in London on Thursday 21 July. The flight went well, but none of the suitcases appeared on the baggage belt at Stansted.
– It was a very bad fit, because he was going to a wedding in London. It ruins the trip, his wife Shamir Bashir tells Nettavisen.
Ahead in London, the husband stood ready for the wedding, but without clothing or wedding gifts. He heard nothing about the luggage, neither in London nor when he got back to Gardermoen.
– We felt helpless because there was no one who could give an answer. We have not received any information, says Bashir.
She assumes that the husband’s luggage has most likely never been sent by plane that took off from Gardermoen on 21 July.
Took matters into my own hands
Munsab travel to London with Ryanair’s direct route on Thursday 21 July. Menzies Aviation is the company’s ground handling company at Gardermoen.
The wife says that they have tried repeatedly to get in touch with the company by phone, but without success.
The man therefore took matters into his own hands, and Tuesday this week was the third time he stopped by Gardermoen to try to get an answer as to where his luggage had gone.
At Gardermoen, they have set up a separate meeting point for lost luggage. There, every half hour between 07:00 and 24:00 you can be followed to the baggage hall, according to the sign that has been put up.
– The first time he went up there, he was told that there were 10,000 parcels that had hoped to get up, he.
– He was also informed that some suitcases had been lying there since May, adds Bashir.
After Imran Munsab had been to Gardermoen on Tuesday this week, they received calls that the luggage had been found.
On Wednesday evening, the wife informed that the husband’s luggage with the suits had arrived at the door.
– It was a good fit as we are going to a wedding on 7 August, she says.
– Difficult to get in touch
It has also been frustrating times for Annette Behrens after she and her partner returned from a holiday in Brussels.
The cohabiting couple flew with Finnair, stopping in Helsinki before arriving in Gardermoen on Friday 22. July.
– I never usually send luggage, but this time I checked in one package, Behrens tells Nettavisen.
But once in Oslo, the suitcase did not appear on the baggage belt.
– I reported it and was told that they should call back, but they didn’t.
She is referring to the aforementioned Menzies, the same «ground handling» company with which the couple from Bærum have experienced problems.
The company is the ground handling company for a number of airlines at Oslo Airport Gardermoen. I add to Finnair and Ryanair, the other partners are the Norwegian airlines Norwegian and Flyr.
– It has been very difficult to get in touch. Over an hour on the phone with no answer. You get a message that you can check where the luggage is on a website, but it doesn’t exist, says Behrens.
See the fact box for a full overview of which airlines have Menzies as a collaboration partner:
After several days of trying, Annette Behrens finally got in touch with Menzies on Tuesday 26 July.
– I was informed that they had found the luggage. I could either have it shipped or come and pick it up myself.
The 32-year-old lives in Enebakk with his roommate and therefore chose to have it delivered to his door. She was told that they should get in touch again within a few days, but she heard nothing.
On Tuesday, August 2, she got tired of waiting and drove herself to Gardermoen to find the luggage.
– I went into the arrivals hall at the meeting point for lost luggage and then it went very well, she says.
After 10 days without knowing what had happened to the suitcase, she was finally able to take the luggage home with her.
– Afraid that the luggage would be thrown away
Nettavisen has been in contact with Avinor and communications manager Harald Nygaard Kvam at Oslo airport. He confirms that it has been a challenging summer for the airport.
– It is for various reasons. Some because of delayed flights and some because of many problems with crewing at European airports in ours and throughout the summer, says Kvam to Nettavisen.
According to the communications manager, it is less baggage, which has hoped to become another former.
– We have registered a decreasing trend in recent weeks. Part of the accumulation is parcels which do not have a name tag and which are not picked up, he states.
He refers to the airline’s ground handling company as responsible for baggage handling and has no further comment.
Annette Behrens understands the situation, but responds that no one made contact.
– I was afraid that the luggage would just be thrown away, she says.
Nettavisen has been in contact with Menzies Aviation’s station manager at Oslo airport Gardermoen, the company’s station manager at Gardermoen, Linn Munthe-Kaas, for a comment.
– I cannot answer that. It must be taken via our media center in Scotland. Such is politics, she says.
Menzies’ main seat is in Scotland. Nettavisen’s inquiry has been sent to you, but they have not answered our questions.
– We feel like a throwing ball
A family with children from Aure on Nordmøre was missing 4 out of 5 suitcases, three weeks after they had returned home from a holiday trip in the USA, writes Demands of the times.
– We are just forwarded by everyone we contact. We feel like a throwaway ball and no one will take responsibility. It is very frustrating. We know that there are many people who are missing luggage, but it is the lack of customer service and the feeling of being a throwing ball that we react strongly to, says Ann Mari Langtinn to the newspaper.
Together with her husband Mats and their three children, the family traveled to the USA at the end of June. When they returned home on July 13, none of their suitcases showed up on the luggage belt.
– Losing your luggage is a minor problem in the big picture. We are very lucky to have been able to go on holiday this year, but despite the children’s need for their things, as I said, it is the customer service we encounter that we want to focus on, says Ann Mari.
The family from Aure, once driven from Kvernberget airport in Kristiansund, had booked the entire journey through SAS. When the family had to return home from the USA, the trip was rebooked. The original travel route was Orlando-New York-Oslo-Kristiansund. New itinerary was Orlando-New York-Heathrow-Copenhagen-Bergen-Kristiansund.
They used the baggage tracking system for SAS and on 15 July found out that one of the suitcases had been found and sent to Oslo airport Gardermoen. Shortly after that, they were informed that other suitcases had been sent to Bergen airport Flesland.
– We tried for hours to get in touch with Bergen airport, but never got through. We could leave a message, but then realized that the inbox was full, she tells the newspaper.
After much back and forth in communication with three different airports, including customer service at SAS, three of the suitcases have arrived this week.
– One was the one they least believed would appear. It was also destroyed. Both suitcases we received today were sent from Bergen, Ann Mari told the newspaper on Wednesday.
– It also affects us
Nettavisen has not succeeded in getting in touch with SAS Ground Handling, the airline’s ground handling service, at Oslo airport Gardermoen, but the press spokesman Lars Wigelstorp Andersen in SAS at the airline’s office in Copenhagen has answered the inquiry.
– There are challenges at airports all over Europe in handling luggage due to, among other things, poorly functioning logistics and a lack of manpower resources. Unfortunately, it also affects us and our travelers, he writes in an e-mail to Nettavisen.
He further states that luggage that disappears is forwarded to real airports, such as Gardermoen.
– We do our utmost to get the luggage to our passengers, who have the choice between collecting it themselves at the current airport or having it delivered to their home address, adds Andersen.
Faced with the demands of the times, he apologizes above to the children’s family from Aure.
– We apologize for the family’s experiences, but the press department is not able to handle individual cases and has forwarded this to customer service. I can still state that it is the airline that is responsible for the luggage and not the airports, Andersen tells the newspaper.