Passengers sent home without suitcases and dozens returned to the airport to queue for them the next day

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Many holidaymakers are still trying to get their luggage back from Birmingham Airport after reportedly being told to leave without it. Passengers flying in on Monday night, May 30, said they waited hours in the baggage reclaim hall only to be told to "go home".

Hundreds of people returned to the airport on Tuesday and queued to collect their luggage, while others claimed they were still waiting. Travel giant TUI pleaded for patience from travellers on Tuesday after arrivals complained of a lack of communication as to how and when they could get their bags back.

Olga Castro, from Sutton Coldfield, arrived in from Frankfurt on Monday night and described "chaotic" scenes at baggage reclaim, with children sleeping on the floor and crowds of "more than 1,000 people" stuck waiting for their bags to be off-loaded. She said: "I was travelling with my four-year-old daughter and we were waiting for three hours by the baggage belt until 1.30am.

READ MORE: Video shows huge queue at Birmingham Airport after medical emergency reports - live updates

"There were more than 1,000 people in the baggage room - at one point to keep myself busy I started counting them. It was appalling to see toddlers and babies crying - some mothers were saying they had packed their milk in their suitcases so their children didn't have any. My daughter was asleep on the floor so I actually felt quite lucky that she didn't have to suffer like that.

"It was about 1.30am when there was announcement saying passengers from flights to Paris, Frankfurt and a few more were requested to go home and their luggage would be delivered to their home address.

"That caused a lot of confusion because some people were just visiting - there were quite a few people who had arrived to play golf who had none of their equipment and were staying in hotels. We were advised not to fill out a form because it would take too long so we were all left clueless what to do next.

"I was concerned about my bags - I've never had luggage lost before, but it was such a chaotic situation. You could see all the belts were full with luggage from previous flights and a lot of suitcases were left on the floor of the baggage reclaim area, so I thought how are they going to identify all of these bags?

"I have managed to get my bag back, I think we were very lucky. I was very proactive and emailed everybody I possibly could to find out how to get my bags back, I phoned probably 40 times and finally got a reply.

"I went back to the airport around 1pm and there was a long queue of around 30 people waiting to get their bags. We were told 13 flights had been affected, so likely thousands of passengers."

One man told BirminghamLive his wife was still battling to get her bags back on Wednesday morning after arriving from Faro on Monday night. He said: "My wife flew back on Monday, Ryanair from Faro, got off and waited for her bags until 1am, then was told to go home without her bags and it would be couriered.

"Her friend got a text saying she could collect her bag the next day but my wife didn’t. I went to see at the airport as per her friend's text and there were 200 people plus queuing to get their bags from a car rental place inside. I didn’t have time to do that so it cost me £6.50 in parking as I couldn’t queue to get them to authorise the ticket.

"Ryanair can’t and won’t do anything, saying it’s BHX and we can’t start a bag claim as there was no reference given at the time. BHX is saying the airline will contact us, but the airline is saying no. My wife went off to work in London and will have had to replace all personal hygiene items."

He later added: "Someone just called me and I get to go and pick it up at 3pm."

This followed reports of "carnage" in the baggage reclaim hall on Monday morning, with waits as long as three hours for luggage to be off-loaded from flights. Photographs shared by holidaymakers showed piles of "abandoned" bags and passengers sitting on empty carousels and some sleeping on the floor.

BirminghamLive has contacted Ryanair for comment. A spokesperson for TUI previously said it would be in direct contact with affected passengers.

A TUI spokeswoman said: "We’re aware some customers have been impacted by baggage delays at Birmingham Airport. We’d like to thank customers for their patience and understanding at this exceptionally busy time.

"We’re working closely with airport staff, baggage handlers and our teams in resort to ensure customers receive their luggage as soon as possible. We’ll be in direct contact with customers once we have more information to share."