Birmingham Airport baggage issue left family without medication

A Worcestershire family’s holiday was turned into a “nightmare” after an airport baggage system failure left them without essential medication for more than three days.

Gavin Sparks, from Redditch, was reunited with his luggage on Tuesday morning at his hotel in Dalaman, Turkey, after flying from Birmingham Airport on Friday.

His wife has a gastrointestinal condition which means she takes daily medication to help her tolerate food, while Sparks has type 2 diabetes and also relies on daily medication.

Birmingham Airport said: “We sincerely apologise to all passengers that were affected by these issues over the weekend, and we continue to work hard, reuniting all bags with passengers.”

Problems with Birmingham Airport’s baggage system emerged on Friday, and saw passengers, travelling with a range of holiday operators, taking off without their suitcases on board their flights.

Passengers have reported incurring expenses to buy replacement clothes during days-long waits to be reunited with their belongings.

But solutions have proved more difficult when medication is involved.

“Over the last 36 hours, she’s barely eaten,” Sparks said of his wife.

“[Her] medicine, no one in Turkey actually recognises it, so she was having to manage the problem with pain killers.”

He added of his own needs: “I kind of played Russian roulette with some medication I bought but I’ve been brilliantly supported by the doctor within the hotel but you literally are picking and choosing which ones to take.”

Sparks, who has since been reunited with his luggage, travelled in a group of eight, which included his brother-in-law, who also requires daily medication.

“He has a very small amount of his medication with him and luckily their cases arrived [on Monday].

“There’s a huge learning curve for next time as we might split a few important items.”