A woman has shared the contents of her luggage after it went missing for 4 years. Video / @aprildgavin
Baggage handlers are still attempting to clear backlogs a week on from the Auckland cyclone disruption.
On Monday there were 600 items of mishandled luggage at Auckland Airport from Qantas passengers, more than a week after flights were affected by storms in Auckland and Sydney.
Passengers travelling New Zealand are still without luggage and wondering whether their items will be cleared from the backlog in time for them to travel home.
Tom Everly, on a two-week vacation from the Unites States, said he was among hundreds of passengers, asked to fill out lost baggage forms after he arrived on February 14, in high winds.
“We waited two hours then found out ourselves that there was a Qantas online system so we filled that in and left,” he said.
“Luckily, only our overflow bag is stuck in Auckland, now for a week.”
The tailwinds of Cyclone Gabrielle caused further disruption for airport operations at Auckland after a 30-hour weather shutdown on February 13.
Passengers arrived during the February 14 ground handling shutdown queue for luggage forms. Photo / Supplied
Safety concerns led to a further suspension of flights and ground services on Monday, last week but not until after several flights had already arrived at the terminal.
While passengers were able to disembark, luggage cargo and other operations were halted.
The airport’s chief customer officer, Scott Tasker, said ground teams “need to be safe when they’re working on the airfield, and the airport system can’t operate without them”.
A total of 104 international flights were affected by the disruption on February 14.
QF151 was one of a handful of international flights that were able to land at the airport but not unload luggage - further adding to the backlog of unclaimed luggage.
On the other side of the Tasman operations in Sydney are also still affected by storm disruption. New passengers affected by late or missing luggage have also been caught in the backlog.
Kiwi traveller Courtney Allison-Young was attending a wedding in New South Wales with her 2-year-old son, but was forced to buy new clothing and items for the event.
Taking to Facebook Courtney the passenger said she would “never book again” with the carrier.
“Still waiting for my four bags after arriving in Sydney on Thursday. All my baby luggage and items including my son’s medication ‘lost’.
“I have a trackable bag tag and can see they’ve been in Sydney for days!”
A spokesperson for Qantas said they were working to process luggage for affected passengers.
“We understand waiting for bags is really frustrating for passengers and thank them for their patience as we work through the backlog following Cyclone Gabrielle.
“We sent additional team members from Australia over to Auckland after the cyclone and are working closely with Auckland Airport and our ground handler to help get bags to customers as quickly as possible.”
On February 15 the airline replaced their QF143/146 Auckland services with an Airbus A380 jumbo jet, in order to help with the backlog. It flew full both ways from Sydney.
Items of luggage were stored outside by handlers 'at capacity' during flood disruption. Photo / Supplied
‘Over-capacity’ storage in Auckland
Auckland Airport has been hit with a deluge of unexpected closures due to recent weather events.
Prior to the arrival of Cyclone Gabrielle the runway was closed on January 28 following flooding.
