Lost Airport Luggage Dumped in Bin by Baggage Handlers at Dublin Airport

Missing suitcases belonging to air travelers have been discovered dumped in a bin at Dublin Airport, as reported by ITV

Photographs obtained by UTV revealed several opened luggage in a bin for disposal outside a warehouse packed with lost luggage.

Airlines and ground handlers at the airport are dealing with 4,200 missing or mislaid bags, as the industry struggles to deal with post-Covid travel.

The shocking photographs, taken by a concerned whistleblower a few days ago, raise questions over how lost luggage is being managed.

After being shown the photographs by UTV, Sky Handling – one of the baggage agencies operating at Dublin Airport – said the luggage was disposed off for health and safety reasons.

In a statement, a spokesman said, “There have been a handful of cases where bags which have not been recovered and which contain perishable items which are attracting vermin, whereby the bags have had to be removed to be destroyed for health and safety reasons.

“But the passenger file is updated with those details to allow a claim to be processed.”.

However, frustrated holidaymakers have been taking to social media to ask for advice, having struggled to contact their airline or baggage handler.

A prime example is the case of an athlete, Katie Kirk and her husband who lost their luggage as they returned home from honeymoon via Dublin five weeks ago.

After seeing the images of suitcases in a bin, Katie said: “It just makes me really angry, those are someone’s possessions, you don’t know how much they mean to that person.

“Given the current economic climate and the cost of living crisis, people can’t afford to replace those things. It’s really not fair.

“Our luggage is not lost, it’s simply that they don’t have the staff or the capacity to search for that bag. It is literally sitting in a warehouse – or maybe in a bin.

“There are things in my suitcase that are from my wedding, things I wore at our wedding

“That was a really special time for us that we want to remember and it’s just really sad for us to think we won’t be getting those things back.”

This article was originally published by Deborah McAleese on ITV.