Heathrow passengers complain of smell from luggage left for up to 10 days

‘It’s like half the cases are full of festering bush meat. Real 1970s dustbin strike aroma,’ wrote one customer

Suitcases at Heathrow terminal 2 yesterday (Lori Harito)

Passengers flying from Heathrow Airport continue to complain about the luggage chaos that has seen abandoned bags piled up in the airport’s terminals - with some suggesting they have begun to smell.

“Baggage here since the 18th of June, it’s literally the 28th. Bags starting to stink, staff lying to our faces, it’s literally a mess sort it out,” wrote Elliot Day on Twitter.

Another customer, whose flight had been diverted to Heathrow from Gatwick and their luggage lost in the process, claimed the left luggage had begun to “smell like poo”.

“We were reassured that our bags would be transferred to @HeathrowAirport (original flight was to @Gatwick_Airport). They weren’t! And these are the scenes in the baggage hall! (It also literally smells like poo),” wrote Karen Barrett.

Meanwhile, on 23 June, another passenger wrote: “One thing you don’t get when you see the piles of baggage at Heathrow is the smell. It’s like half the cases are full of festering bush meat. Real 1970s dustbin strike aroma.”

Others slammed the airport for the disorganisation and lack of security around left luggage in recent days.

@Ashvalecommuter wrote: “Anyone want a random suitcase? The baggage hall at Heathrow Terminal 3 has abandoned cases everywhere, in public view, for anyone to help themselves to. Surely the airlines value people’s belongings more than this?”

One Twitter user accused Heathrow of having lost their bag, with no update, for 23 days, while another said theirs had been mislaid for 11.

YouTuber Gigguk, who runs a channel about anime with over three million subscribers, pleaded with Aer Lingus for luggage “containing $30k of equipment” he says has been lost at Heathrow “for 12 days now.”

“Heathrow Terminal 2 says their luggage issue was resolved. Your phone lines don’t call back, I filled out a missing luggage report to no reply, WHEN can I expect an update?” said the social media star.

Passengers travelling through the London hub have been posting daily photos of abandoned luggage stacked up in its terminals for several days.

Yesterday Air Canada passenger Lori Harito slammed the airport, saying: “This was the scene today at #Heathrow terminal 2. My bags were misplaced when I arrived exactly a week ago so I went back to the airport to try and find it myself.

“There are more people with lost luggage than there are people with luggage. I spent three hours searching.”

The Independent has contacted Heathrow for comment.