Due to malfunction, dozens of flights delayed at Ben Gurion Airport
Fault with baggage handling system strands many passengers at height of tourism season
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on Google
Dozens of departing flights were delayed Monday morning at Israel’s only international airport at the height of the tourism season due to a malfunction of the baggage handling system.
The Civil Aviation Authority said the fault at Ben Gurion Airport was being taken care of, as frustrated passengers stood in long lines and saw their suitcases pile up in the departures hall without being sent to the planes.
Some 37 flights were being delayed, according to an online flight timetable on the Israel Airports Authority website.
Each airline had the choice to either delay the flight and wait for a solution, or take off without the luggage and fly it in later.
תיעוד מנתב"ג: התקלה במערכת מיון המזוודות מעכבת המראת טיסות וגורמת לתורים גדולים @sharonidan (צילום: ישי מאור) pic.twitter.com/bCZUCkaggZ
— כאן חדשות (@kann_news) August 12, 2019
“We have been here for four hours,” traveler Shai Maor told the Kan public broadcaster. “All the conveyor belts stopped working, nonstop malfunctions, we are still waiting for all this mess to end and meanwhile there are no answers, nobody knows what will happen.”
“This is a crazy collapse, the conveyor belt is just staying still with many suitcases in large piles,” Meny Haddad told Army Radio. “They stopped receiving passengers.”
The Times of Israel Community.