Travel chaos at Dublin (DUB) airport: A man had to buy a ticket for a flight who never intended to fly – just so he could search for his missing suitcase.

Chaos has erupted at many airports across Europe as we find ourselves In the middle of the holiday season. While never ending queues with ungodly waiting times are certainly the bane of current traveller, nothing quite tops the miserable and frustrating experience of losing a suitcase. As a result of staff shortages and general operational difficulties, many airline passengers are now waiting for their luggage for days or even weeks; often with no idea where their suitcase is.

At Dublin Airport (DUB), a traveller took matters into his own hands to search for his luggage. Dermot Lennon returned from a trip to Australia at the end of June 2022. After his luggage was apparently lost, Mr. Lennon left the airport without his suitcase. Although after hearing nothing for a week, he later returned to the airport himself in order to track down his bag. In order to gain access, however, he was forced to buy a new ticket for himself, despite having no intention of flying.

Due to security reasons only a limited number of people were allowed into the zone where the lost suitcases were kept, Lennon reported. Security checks would have caused additional delays. “There was complete chaos,” he said, describing the conditions at the airport. So the cunning Irishman simply bought the cheapest plane ticket available because it allowed him to go straight from the gate to the baggage carousel. All in all, he paid a grand total of18 euros for a flight to Glasgow.

After wandering around for hours searching, Dermot Lennon luckily finally managed to locate his suitcase – in the midst of thousands of pieces of luggage, as he says. Some suitcases were apparently there for over a month, judging by the date stamps without anyone picking them up or handing them over to the owners. The airport in Dublin itself does not take care of the lost luggage, but rather the airlines are held responsible.