Family Loses Luggage During Edinburgh Layover, Faces Inconvenience and Damaged Items
The Berthet family from Åkarp in Skåne, Sweden, experienced a nightmarish situation during their recent vacation. While they temporarily stopped over in Edinburgh, Scotland on 1 July, the family got rid of all their suitcases. They had made this decision due to the major baggage handling problems that the airport there has been facing, according to local media.
Expressen, a Swedish newspaper, reported on the case when they attempted to contact SAS (Scandinavian Airlines) for ten days, to no avail. The Berthet family claims that they only received a response from the airline after the newspaper’s involvement.
After an additional twelve days, the family has finally received three of their bags back. However, much to their disappointment, two of them were broken and rendered unusable. SAS expressed regret for the incident and attributed it to the “problematic situation at Edinburgh airport.”
Sofie Berthet, 52, expressed her frustration with SAS, stating, “The whole thing is incredibly poorly managed by SAS from start to finish. We have called customer service so many times that we have lost count, and the only help we get is basically that they say it is someone else’s fault or responsibility.” She further added that the past three weeks have been ruined by the constant communication with SAS, worries about their bags, and the time and money spent replacing necessary items that were inside the missing luggage.
Sofie, her 54-year-old husband David, and their children Alvin, 18, and Ella, 16, had spent two weeks in Orlando, Florida, before flying home via Edinburgh to Copenhagen.
The family became aware that their four bags had been left behind in Edinburgh when someone at the airport, waiting for their lost luggage, emailed them a picture of one of their bags. However, it took nearly three weeks for the bags to begin arriving at their destination. Even then, the bags were sent separately and at different times.
Sofie expressed gratitude to Expressen for bringing the issue to the airline’s attention, stating, “Only when Expressen wrote did something start to happen. SAS got in touch; we had to send them the picture of our bag. It is strange that you as a passenger have to contact the media to get help.”
Unfortunately, two of the bags were severely damaged during the ordeal, and some of their contents were broken as well.
Jokingly, Sofie added, “We joke and say that after this press, we need another holiday. But then it has to be a bus trip, and only with hand luggage that is visible at all times.”
Local Scottish newspapers have also reported on the ongoing luggage problems at Edinburgh Airport.
SAS responded to the incident, acknowledging that it was deeply regrettable. However, the airline attributed the situation to the problematic baggage handling situation at Edinburgh Airport, which they claimed was beyond their control. Alexandra Lindgren Kaoukji, press manager at SAS, stated, “We have not been able to reach staff at the airport and thus have not been able to locate the luggage and have it sent home until now. We are in dialogue with the Berthet family and will be until we resolve this in the best possible way.” She also expressed regret if the family felt that they had received inadequate service from SAS.
SAS has stated that they will review their processes in order to prevent a similar situation from occurring in the future.