Travellers who arrived on an Air Malta flight from Heathrow last week, are still waiting for their luggage after a technical malfunction with the airport's baggage system.
Around 100 bags belonging to the airline's passengers are still to be delivered to their owners, who arrived on a flight on Friday night.
One woman, who came to Malta for a family wedding and is still waiting for her baggage, described a "carpet of luggage on every level" of Terminal 2 of the UK's busiest airport.
“I came to Malta for a month so I had lots of stuff packed… I had a whole outfit for a family wedding, lots of shoes, some of them designer shoes, and my skincare products,” she said.
Three days after her Friday night arrival, she still has no clue where her luggage is. Malta International Airport staff told her that only eight bags out of 90 have arrived, she said.
She said she had been greeted with a "massive cluster of bags" when she arrived at Heathrow Airport at 5.20pm on Friday to catch the 7pm Air Malta flight to Malta.
Luggage piling up at Heathrow on Friday“When I arrived at the check-in desk I was told that the conveyor belt was not working and was asked to leave my luggage a few metres away from the check-in point. This goes completely against all we have been told about leaving luggage unattended. It was a breach of airport security,” she said.
She said that while she understood the delays in getting her luggage may be beyond the control of the airline, more effort should be made to keep passengers updated about the whereabouts of their personal belongings.
'Pushing for solutions'
A spokesman from Air Malta said that only one flight was impacted by the technical issue at Heathrow.
He said the airline was in "constant contact" with Heathrow Airport authorities "pushing them for solutions to reunite passengers with their luggage as soon as possible."
He said the airline apologised to its passengers for the delay but "is totally reliant upon London Heathrow Airport sorting out the bags and delivering these to airlines to, in turn, allow airlines to forward them to their customers."
On Friday, a sea of luggage was piled up at Heathrow's Terminal 2 after the technical malfunction. Some passengers had to fly without their bags while others faced delays at check-in. About 9,000 bags are still to be delivered to passengers through various airlines.
The Air Malta spokesman said things should be better on Wednesday when the planned shift of Air Malta, and other airlines, to Terminal 4 will take place. This would reduce the load on Terminal 2.