Both the airports Barajas in Madrid and El Prat in Barcelona are suffering from chaos due to piles of suitcases in their terminals. Moreover, the problem seems to be caused by the baggage handling companies and the airlines themselves.
However, at Barcelona airport, the problems have been going on for a few days longer than in Madrid. Images on social media show the hundreds of suitcases that did not end up with their owners; suitcases scattered all over the transport hall and passengers trying to find their luggage again. The havoc with suitcases coincides with the strikes at several airlines and the holiday rush.
Number of flights
According to data provided by AENA – the company in charge of managing and developing airports in Spain – about 18,000 flights were registered at Barajas last weekend. This made it the airport with the highest number of flights, ahead of El Prat and Palma de Mallorca.
Suitcases chaos
AENA has assured that the chaos with suitcases is not an ‘incident’ of the state administrator. It is the responsibility of the airlines and handling companies (companies in charge of baggage on the ground). Suitcases sometimes arrive later than passengers’ so they are delivered later, according to sources from Spanish news site 20minutos.com. Moreover, the same sources stressed that ‘it is not baggage that is managed by the airport’ but by the baggage handlers.
Also read: Airlines strike threat for August
