Holiday plans were thrown into disarray after luggage belts failed at East Midlands Airport in Leicestershire on Saturday.
Hundreds of passengers found themselves at their holiday destination without any of their luggage.
The airport blamed a “technical issue” and has apologised to affected passengers.
Travellers took to social media to vent their frustration on one of the busiest travel days of the year.
Marie Moore posted online: “East Midlands Airport having massive problems with luggage belts today and 52 cases missing from our flight to Lanzarote. FR3172.
“One of which is ours, an absolute nightmare start to our family holiday!!! I’m absolutely devastated!”
David Hidle tweeted: “Absolute chaos for all flights leaving from East Midlands Airport today, failure of baggage belts and numerous flights leaving without bags.
“Ground crew at arrival airports next to useless.”
The problems began after one of the conveyor belts which transports luggage to the aircraft hold broke down at 3am Saturday morning, according to local paper Leicestershire Live.
A second conveyor belt then became overloaded and also broke down. Engineers were called and the belt fixed.
The issues affected was is known as “slot one” which is when the early morning flights depart from East Midlands Airport – and is one of the busiest time of the day.
Staff at the airport then had to deal with the backlog of luggage which caused further hold-ups.
Easy Midlands Airport released a statement on Saturday apologising.
“A baggage systems fault at East Midlands Airport this morning (Saturday 14 July 2018) has resulted in some passengers departing without their baggage.
“We understand the significant inconvenience that this will cause to people who want to enjoy their holiday.
“Together with airline ground handling teams, we are working hard to reunite all affected passengers with their luggage as quickly as is possible. Luggage left behind will be on the next available flight to those destinations where people are affected.
“We apologise unreservedly to all passengers who have been affected by this fault today.
“Departing passengers are advised to allow extra time to pass through the airport while we work to fully restore the service.”
The airport is advising passengers seeking compensation to speak to their airlines.
Express.co.uk has contacted East Midlands Airport for comment.
