Furious passengers have slammed Qantas after more than half of the people on board a flight to New Zealand on Sunday were left stranded without their luggage.
More than 100 people on flight QF161 arrived in Wellington from Sydney only to find their bags had been left behind in Sydney, according to passenger Philip Nitschke.
Dr Nitschke claimed heavy bags belonging to the English cricket team were given priority over the luggage of other passengers.
Adding further insult to injury, the cricket team weren’t even on the flight – and are not due to play the Black Caps until Tuesday.
Disgruntled passengers have slammed Qantas after more than 100 people on board a flight from Australia to New Zealand on Sunday were left stranded without their luggage
Dr Philip Nitschke (pictured), who was on board, said in a video posted to Facebook. He claimed heavy bags belonging to the English cricket team was given priority over the luggage of other passengers
‘I must say this is a new low for Qantas. I’ve never seen anything like this,’ Dr Nitschke, who is in Wellington to testify in a court case, said.
‘[The luggage] has been left behind because Qantas had to give priority to the English cricket team.
‘So now there’s chaos here at Wellington as we have 150 people having to fill out lost luggage forms because Qantas couldn’t be bothered treating their average commuter with anything like a semblance of decency.
‘Thank you Qantas, never again.’
‘I must say this is a new low for Qantas. I’ve never seen anything like this,’ Dr Nitschke, who is in Wellington to testify in a court case, said (pictured)
The spokeswoman denied that passengers’ bags were removed to accommodate the cricket team. She argued that some of the player’s bags were left behind as well (pictured is Dr Nitschke’s luggage ticket)
A Qantas spokeswoman told Stuff.co.nz several bags were left behind because the captain of the plane decided to load more fuel into the Boeing 737.
More fuel was added as a precaution to allow the plane to divert if it encountered bad weather.
‘We understand this is frustrating, but our main priority was getting everyone to Wellington safely and on time,’ the spokeswoman told the publication.
‘The leftover bags were loaded onto the next flight on Sunday evening and the remaining bags will arrive in Wellington on our first flight on Monday morning.’
The spokeswoman denied that passengers’ bags were removed to accommodate the cricket team. She argued that some of the player’s bags were left behind as well.
Daily Mail Australia has contacted Qantas for comment.