British Airways customers have hit out at the company's “appalling” handling of disruption during Storm Eunice, during which thousands of passengers left airports without their luggage after it was lost.
The airline said high winds had caused its ground-handling operation at Heathrow’s Terminal 5 to disintegrate, but furious passengers ridiculed the reasoning. Some questioned why other airlines had not been hit by mass luggage losses during the same period of bad weather.
BA said it was “extremely sorry” for “letting people down” and reassured customers that staff were working to return baggage to travellers.
The apology came after a week of travel disruption caused by three storms in the UK, which led to hundreds of flights being cancelled, delayed or diverted. Dudley, Eunice and Storm Franklin came in quick succession over the past week, preventing many from undertaking road, rail, air and sea journeys due to flooding, high winds and downpours.
Ben Graham, a businessman from North London, waited for his wife and two children outside Heathrow for two hours on Sunday after their flight from Germany had landed.
His wife was told she could either wait for a few hours for their two suitcases or go home and have them delivered later.
BA contacted the family on Tuesday to say they had retrieved one of their suitcases – but the other remains missing.
“It’s appalling,” Mr Graham told The National. “I was waiting outside the airport for them and after about two hours I started looking on Twitter and saw that there were lots of people who had left without their luggage.
“It’s a start, but it’s been 36 hours since they landed and there are medical items in the luggage that we need for one of our children who has a health condition.
“We have not needed them but if we did then God knows what we would do. They are emergency items.
“It is not so much the baggage being lost, the issue is the customer service. It’s appalling. It’s impossible to speak to someone.
“I have been a loyal customer for a long time and I am bitterly disappointed with it. It’s so bad. I am in the business world and you cannot run a business like that.”
He refused to accept BA’s reasoning that the high winds caused the upheaval and questioned why other airlines were not similarly affected.
Other passengers described chaotic scenes at Heathrow’s Terminal 5, with hundreds of bags loaded on to trolleys in collection areas with no one to pick them up. Carousels were lined with passengers waiting for bags that failed to appear.
The number of customers affected is estimated to be in the thousands.
Unhappy BA customers took to Twitter to vent their anger.
A woman with the Twitter handle @jackiehagland posted a video on Sunday showing trolleys laden with luggage next to carousels at Heathrow. She captioned the post: “This is Heathrow Airport absolute chaos British Airways sending people home without their luggage.”
Katharine said it took the airline 25 hours to contact her to say they had found her luggage after a flight from Zurich to Heathrow on Saturday.
On Monday she tweeted: “One bag located other one is being traced … not impressed.”
Another man said he still had no idea where his luggage was after three days. And a man called Duncan was among those who expressed scepticism over BA’s reason for the chaos.
“Can you explain how not having enough airport transport or baggage handlers is the fault of the wind!? If I was cynical, I might say you’re using the wind as an excuse for truly terrible service,” he said.
BA said extra volunteers had been drafted in and it aims to have all bags returned to their owners in the next 72 hours.
In a statement issued to The National, BA said it was “extremely sorry to all our customers who have been disrupted during the extreme weather conditions in the last few days”.
“We know we have let people down and that isn’t good enough, but can reassure our customers that we are doing absolutely everything we can to improve the situation.”
The airline on Tuesday said the vast majority of its flights were in operation but some had been cancelled or delayed due to the “continuing bad weather conditions across the UK and Europe”.
“We are sorry that some customers who were able to travel have had their bags delayed, and our teams are working round the clock to reunite them with their luggage as quickly as possible.”
The Little Things
Directed by: John Lee Hancock
Starring: Denzel Washington, Rami Malek, Jared Leto
Four stars
The years Ramadan fell in May
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League final:
Who: Real Madrid v Liverpool
Where: NSC Olimpiyskiy Stadium, Kiev, Ukraine
When: Saturday, May 26, 10.45pm (UAE)
TV: Match on BeIN Sports
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
What is a robo-adviser?
Robo-advisers use an online sign-up process to gauge an investor’s risk tolerance by feeding information such as their age, income, saving goals and investment history into an algorithm, which then assigns them an investment portfolio, ranging from more conservative to higher risk ones.
These portfolios are made up of exchange traded funds (ETFs) with exposure to indices such as US and global equities, fixed-income products like bonds, though exposure to real estate, commodity ETFs or gold is also possible.
Investing in ETFs allows robo-advisers to offer fees far lower than traditional investments, such as actively managed mutual funds bought through a bank or broker. Investors can buy ETFs directly via a brokerage, but with robo-advisers they benefit from investment portfolios matched to their risk tolerance as well as being user friendly.
Many robo-advisers charge what are called wrap fees, meaning there are no additional fees such as subscription or withdrawal fees, success fees or fees for rebalancing.
Section 375
Cast: Akshaye Khanna, Richa Chadha, Meera Chopra & Rahul Bhat
Director: Ajay Bahl
Producers: Kumar Mangat Pathak, Abhishek Pathak & SCIPL
Rating: 3.5/5
The specs: Fenyr SuperSport
Price, base: Dh5.1 million
Engine: 3.8-litre twin-turbo flat-six
Transmission: Seven-speed automatic
Power: 800hp @ 7,100pm
Torque: 980Nm @ 4,000rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 13.5L / 100km
Best Foreign Language Film nominees
Capernaum (Lebanon)
Cold War (Poland)
Never Look Away (Germany)
Roma (Mexico)
Shoplifters (Japan)
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
The Voice of Hind Rajab
Starring: Saja Kilani, Clara Khoury, Motaz Malhees
Director: Kaouther Ben Hania
Rating: 4/5
Farage on Muslim Brotherhood
Nigel Farage told Reform's annual conference that the party will proscribe the Muslim Brotherhood if he becomes Prime Minister.
"We will stop dangerous organisations with links to terrorism operating in our country," he said. "Quite why we've been so gutless about this – both Labour and Conservative – I don't know.
“All across the Middle East, countries have banned and proscribed the Muslim Brotherhood as a dangerous organisation. We will do the very same.”
It is 10 years since a ground-breaking report into the Muslim Brotherhood by Sir John Jenkins.
Among the former diplomat's findings was an assessment that “the use of extreme violence in the pursuit of the perfect Islamic society” has “never been institutionally disowned” by the movement.
The prime minister at the time, David Cameron, who commissioned the report, said membership or association with the Muslim Brotherhood was a "possible indicator of extremism" but it would not be banned.
Red flags
- Promises of high, fixed or 'guaranteed' returns.
- Unregulated structured products or complex investments often used to bypass traditional safeguards.
- Lack of clear information, vague language, no access to audited financials.
- Overseas companies targeting investors in other jurisdictions - this can make legal recovery difficult.
- Hard-selling tactics - creating urgency, offering 'exclusive' deals.
Courtesy: Carol Glynn, founder of Conscious Finance Coaching
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
Based: Tunisia
Sector: Water technology
Number of staff: 22
Investment raised: $4 million
Tottenham's 10 biggest transfers (according to transfermarkt.com):
1). Moussa Sissokho - Newcastle United - £30 million (Dh143m): Flop
2). Roberto Soldado - Valencia - £25m: Flop
3). Erik Lamela - Roma - £25m: Jury still out
4). Son Heung-min - Bayer Leverkusen - £25m: Success
5). Darren Bent - Charlton Athletic - £21m: Flop
6). Vincent Janssen - AZ Alkmaar - £18m: Flop
7). David Bentley - Blackburn Rovers - £18m: Flop
8). Luka Modric - Dynamo Zagreb - £17m: Success
9). Paulinho - Corinthians - £16m: Flop
10). Mousa Dembele - Fulham - £16m: Success
Bio:
Favourite Quote: Prophet Mohammad's quotes There is reward for kindness to every living thing and A good man treats women with honour
Favourite Hobby: Serving poor people
Favourite Book: The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
Favourite food: Fish and vegetables
Favourite place to visit: London
The years Ramadan fell in May
MATCH INFO
Tottenham Hotspur 0 Everton 1 (Calvert-Lewin 55')
Man of the Match Allan (Everton)
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Sholto Byrnes on Myanmar politics
THE SIXTH SENSE
Starring: Bruce Willis, Toni Collette, Hayley Joel Osment
Director: M. Night Shyamalan
Rating: 5/5
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Zayed Sustainability Prize
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Tips to stay safe during hot weather
- Stay hydrated: Drink plenty of fluids, especially water. Avoid alcohol and caffeine, which can increase dehydration.
- Seek cool environments: Use air conditioning, fans, or visit community spaces with climate control.
- Limit outdoor activities: Avoid strenuous activity during peak heat. If outside, seek shade and wear a wide-brimmed hat.
- Dress appropriately: Wear lightweight, loose and light-coloured clothing to facilitate heat loss.
- Check on vulnerable people: Regularly check in on elderly neighbours, young children and those with health conditions.
- Home adaptations: Use blinds or curtains to block sunlight, avoid using ovens or stoves, and ventilate living spaces during cooler hours.
- Recognise heat illness: Learn the signs of heat exhaustion and heat stroke (dizziness, confusion, rapid pulse, nausea), and seek medical attention if symptoms occur.
THE BIO: Martin Van Almsick
Hometown: Cologne, Germany
Family: Wife Hanan Ahmed and their three children, Marrah (23), Tibijan (19), Amon (13)
Favourite dessert: Umm Ali with dark camel milk chocolate flakes
Favourite hobby: Football
Breakfast routine: a tall glass of camel milk
Read more about the coronavirus
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
$1,000 award for 1,000 days on madrasa portal
Daily cash awards of $1,000 dollars will sweeten the Madrasa e-learning project by tempting more pupils to an education portal to deepen their understanding of math and sciences.
School children are required to watch an educational video each day and answer a question related to it. They then enter into a raffle draw for the $1,000 prize.
“We are targeting everyone who wants to learn. This will be $1,000 for 1,000 days so there will be a winner every day for 1,000 days,” said Sara Al Nuaimi, project manager of the Madrasa e-learning platform that was launched on Tuesday by the Vice President and Ruler of Dubai, to reach Arab pupils from kindergarten to grade 12 with educational videos.
“The objective of the Madrasa is to become the number one reference for all Arab students in the world. The 5,000 videos we have online is just the beginning, we have big ambitions. Today in the Arab world there are 50 million students. We want to reach everyone who is willing to learn.”
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
More from Neighbourhood Watch:
The specs
Engine: 2-litre or 3-litre 4Motion all-wheel-drive Power: 250Nm (2-litre); 340 (3-litre) Torque: 450Nm Transmission: 8-speed automatic Starting price: From Dh212,000 On sale: Now
PROFILE OF HALAN
Started: November 2017
Founders: Mounir Nakhla, Ahmed Mohsen and Mohamed Aboulnaga
Based: Cairo, Egypt
Sector: transport and logistics
Size: 150 employees
Investment: approximately $8 million
Investors include: Singapore’s Battery Road Digital Holdings, Egypt’s Algebra Ventures, Uber co-founder and former CTO Oscar Salazar
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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The years Ramadan fell in May
Spec%20sheet
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
