'Carnage' at Birmingham airport sparks bank holiday fears

By ITV News Central Production Journalist Barnaby Papadopulos

Passengers at Birmingham airport have described the situation there as 'carnage', with some people claiming hours-long waits for bags.

Travellers at the airport have been hit by delays multiple times recently, with some people claiming that they've missed flights due to long delays at security.

Today, issues appear to be centred on bag collection, with images on social media showing exhausted arrivals to the airport sat on the floor or sleeping on baggage carrousels as they wait to collect their belongings.

The delays will spark worries among passengers flying over the extended bank holiday weekend.

Caroline Louise was stuck in Cyprus's Paphos for three hours after a flight delay. Having finally landed in Birmingham, she said on Twitter that she's "currently been waiting 1hr 15 mins for luggage and doesn't appear that it will be arriving anytime soon."

She said there were "a few Jet2 reps about but none from TUI to help with any concerns or questions, and no food or drink facilities available."

It took two hours in total for Caroline to collect her luggage - and she said she has had no response from TUI after raising her concerns.

Other Twitter users took to the platform to voice their frustration at delays.

Steve Orchard says that he waited for over "2 hours in baggage reclaim," claiming there had been "no announcements, no information."

Whilst another Twitter user concurred that they had had to wait one and a half hours "a few weeks ago," after a nine hour flight.

A spokesperson for Birmingham Airport said, "We would like to thank customers at Birmingham airport for their patience and understanding at this exceptionally busy time. We are continuously working with airport staff and baggage handlers to ensure a smooth running of operations on the ground.

"The safety and wellbeing of our passengers and staff is always our highest priority."