AirAsia dumps luggage from Bali flight

International News, National News

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Here’s just another reason to take your bags carry-on, if you can afford to travel light.

Over a hundred passengers traveling from Perth on Saturday found out only once they had already landed in Bali, that their luggage had been unloaded from their flight prior to takeoff.

AirAsia later released a statement explaining that flight QZ535 had to take-off from a shorter runway when the usual runway was closed for upgrade works, so their A320 aircraft had to meet tougher weight restrictions than usual.

“In order to account for weight restrictions, 104 pieces of check-in baggage was off-loaded from the aircraft prior to departure,” the statement read.

Ok, so if that’s really what happened then it sounds like it wasn’t really the airline’s fault, but maybe they could have broken the news better, meaning they could have at least made some sort of announcement instead of just letting it all play out and leaving passengers to discover a big surprise.

Passengers found out what had happened when they arrived in Bali and the luggage carousel only had a few bags circling around, said one QZ535 passenger, Dennis McDougall.

“We were watching them unload the plane before we boarded but we assumed that it was from the flight that just landed. They could have said in Perth what was happening but they said nothing,” McDougall said, as quoted by the West Australian.

“My first thoughts were with the other passengers who had very young children and they had no luggage at all for their holidays.

“The staff were polite but little they could do other than take names and addresses… there were two people that needed their medication that night,” he added.

The left-behind luggage was eventually put on a flight from Perth on Saturday and QZ535 passengers got their luggage back midday on Sunday, almost 24 hours later, AirAsia said.

No, in case you’re wondering, passengers didn’t get any compensation, according to McDougall. Not that we’re surprised.