Singer loses designer luggage after Tui ‘promised to get it on plane’
A reality TV star has been left without his stage outfits, recording equipment and brand new Nike Air Yeezys due to his suitcase going missing after he checked it onto a Tui flight.
Jordan Smithy, who featured in Little Mix’s BBC One show ‘The Search’, has gone almost a week without his treasured gear after checking his luggage in at Manchester Airport for the journey to Cyprus.
The 24-year-old, who appeared with the band Jasper Blue in the 2020 show, said his suitcase was loaded onto a belt that had stopped working, but he was told by Tui stuff that it would be handled as usual.
He told Metro.co.uk that he boarded the 6.05am flight on July 19 before arriving in the early hours of the morning to find he was among around 15 people whose luggage had not materialised.
Jordan said: ‘The queue to put the luggage onboard was the longest I have ever seen in my life, it was so packed the luggage belts had stopped working. After about 30 minutes in the queue they finally weighed my suitcase and put it on the luggage belt.
‘Two representatives from Tui said “we will make sure your suitcase gets on”, so I left it like that and boarded the flight.’
The singer told Metro.co.uk that he and other passengers waited for around an hour for their belongings at Paphos International Airport before giving up and forming another queue to fill out forms.
He has only booked flights with the holiday giant, which told him in a live chat that he could contact his resort rep.
Jordan said: ‘We kept calling Tui with no answer until about two days later I got through to someone on live chat who said they couldn’t help me.
‘They’ve also told me in a live phone call that they could compensate me but only for £25 a day and only for three days max, so in total £75.
‘A pair of Yeezys costs about £200 so that doesn’t even replace one shoe.
‘All my nice, expensive stuff was in the suitcase. I’ve had to go shopping for new clothes right down to boxer shorts and I’m waiting for an email or a text, but I’ve had nothing at all.’
The live chat message reads: ‘Hi, we’re unable to assist with these cases here, I’m sorry. If you’re in a resort, please speak with your rep for further assistance during your stay.’
Jordan, from Essex, has been left without his stage outfits, including an Armani suit, as well as two brand new pairs of new Nike Air Yeezys and a pair each of Balenciagas, Nike Air Force Ones and Dolce & Gabbanas.
‘I’m thinking about where my luggage could be and my suitcase is probably still sitting there in Manchester Airport,’ he said.
‘I looked online and there are still thousands of suitcases stuck in the airport.
‘The last time I spoke to Tui they said maybe three weeks, but I’ve been just left praying that it will turn up.’
The musician, who is now solo, is playing gigs and recording music on a four-week trip after arranging the bookings with an agent in Cyprus.
Four days before he left, Metro.co.uk reported how passengers arriving at Manchester on a flight from Tenerife were told that nobody was available to take their luggage off the plane.
They were given a form to fill out before leaving the airport empty-handed. At the time, Tui said it was ‘urgently investigating’ and would be in touch with passengers to ‘resolve the issue’.
Swissport, who manage baggage handling for holiday operator, apologised for the ‘delays’ at the airport and said it was ‘working hard’ to address what it described as an ‘industry-wide issue’.
Missing luggage has been a strand of the disruption that has hit the holiday industry as it struggles to meet pent-up demand and the first summer season after all Covid restrictions in England were lifted.
Major operators have cancelled 17,000 flights less than 72 hours before departure so far this year, according to analyst Cirium, with long queues at airports becoming a regular occurrence.
A Swissport spokesperson said: ‘We understand this is a really frustrating situation and we’re working closely with our airline partner to reunite the passenger with their luggage as soon as possible.’
The representative added that compensation is Tui’s responsibility.
A spokesperson for the operator said: ‘We’re very sorry to hear about the issues Mr Smithy has had with his luggage.
‘We are urgently investigating this with our baggage handler to find out exactly what happened and we’ll be in touch with the customer as soon as possible to resolve the issue.’
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