easyJet apologise to cycling club after 16 bikes are left off flight to annual training camp

This seems like blame misdirection. Easyjet have a clear policy which states that their luggage may not be put on the same flight precisely because they know that they limited capacity. It's more likely when you have so many bikes that they won't have space. They should have thought more about that when booking.

From the airlines point of view they have no idea of what will turn up on the day. Unless everyone pops in the details of their bike boxes. It sucks, but you have to be realistic.

Is there an update on this?

Did the riders manage to enjoy their days here in Mallorca?

Its not acceptable or unacceptable. The hold only has so much space. It'd be the same if everyone on the plane turned up with surfboards or something.

Its not acceptable or unacceptable. The hold only has so much space. It'd be the same if everyone on the plane turned up with surfboards or something.

I'm confused, why do people think that 65 bikes is unacceptable yet 49 is perfectly ok?

A lot of people aren't fit to go abroad which is why we have Wales.

Common sense really. So many cyclists on one plane ?
Planes aren't designed t take that much luggage. I'd have flown out a day early to beat the rush.

NotSoEasyJet.

For such a large group it is both a courtesy and smart move to directly contact the airline and make them aware of a large party travelling. I've done this for groups where the airline has state a limit of 3 or 4 bikes, and we've put 10 or more on the flight.

Preparation in this way may see the group offered the exclusive use of a shaped pallet - such as those you see being hauled to larger planes as these permit faster loading & unloading and efficient use of hold space. It may mean a slightly earlier arrival but could also mean that with bikes properly loaded in a pallet package, the potential for the sort of damage that individual bikes can suffer being individually thrown from a conveyor in to the hold, is removed.

I recall hearing from UK tri-riders heading for Klagenfurt, than no bikes were being taken on their flight, given that it was almost filled by competitors.
Instead that had to book bikes in almost a week beforehand, to travel by road....as quite a lot of 'air' freight can be seen travelling the UK motorway network.

I seem to remember something almost identical happened a year ago. You have to be realistic about getting that many bikes on the same flight.

For me easyJet are 100% to blame, its absolutely their fault end of... why ? its simple really... they know how much luggage is going on the plane.

Hardly anybody checks-in a bag at the airport these days without pre-booking, so if we assume that 99% of passengers have pre-booked they know the maximum amount of space this luggage will take up as they have a maximum weight and bag size, also they run a fleet of airbus, so they know the maximum load, however their booking systems doesn't bother looking at such facts, they just take your money, to me its a scandal and the CAA should put a stop to this crap practice.

Bit of a non-story really; OK EasyJet should have told them that they couldn't take all bikes and the "data protection" thing is utter bollocks but then again trying to get 20 people to an information desk once all bags are checked and tell them their bikes will be late is probably just as much hassle anyway.

Flying to such a popular cycling destination on a weekend flight, I'd pretty much expect some bikes not to make it. The club should have split their flights, expecting 65 bikes on one plane is optimistic at best!

I'm flying EasyJet from Gatwick next weekend but it's to a much less popular cycling destination so here's hoping it's all OK!

I know it's happened to other clubs as well on easyjet - all booked months in advance and with 'only' 15 or so bikes, but still you only find out when you arrive.

When travelling in such a big group, I would never assume my bike is going to be carried; sad but true.

I've heard of this at Gatwick before. I flew from Stansted and back this past week and didn't hear of any bikes going missing either flight, and there were a good number of bikes being loaded.

I reckon it's worth the stress and hassle to have your own bike there.

So to summarize no bike on arrival for a quarter of the club members, but their bikes joined them the next day.

The use of the data protection act as an excuse for not giving information is just that, an excuse. An airline can give a passenger ANY information which does not involve a third party.

I wonder a what point someone knew that it wasn't gonna happen. At that point you give the passenger the choice, go without your bike or go on a later flight. Not terribly complicated.

And then to add insult to injury, you ask where your bike is only to be told they can't tell you...wow!

They could have at least told them there and then that they hadn't been loaded.

As for the airline not being able to tell you where you're own property is because of the data protection act, just wtf.

This is standard for outsize baggage regardless of carrier. There is always the chance your expensive toy will have to take a later flight

I'm doing the same trip, same airline, next month. Glad I am going a day earlier than most in my club but who knows.

What I do know is that if they screw it up I won't fly with them again.

I can understand their frustration, but don't they think they were a little naïve? Presumably they travelled on a Boeing 737 or similar aircraft, which would have had about 180-200 seats. In other words, they made up about a third of the passengers on board. A boxed bicycle would certainly qualify as "outsize baggage" which you would have to check in specially at the outsize baggage handling area. Did no-one think to ask themselves "can they really get 65 outsize baggages on a single flight?". There were after all another 130 or so passengers, who would also presumably expect to see their bags carried on the same flight (and yes, I know, many Easyjet passengers don't check in luggage, but as I have discovered, that doesn't mean it doesn't end up in the hold).

And I think we all know by now that under the Montreal Convention airlines have more or less totally excused themselves from responsibility for the baggage, limbs or even lives of their passengers. It's totally wrong, and such abrogation f responsibility would not be tolerated in almost any other service industry, but that's how it is, and governments around the world have accepted it.

Perhaps they should have split into at least two groups traveling on separate aircraft. Most clubs and companies I know of which might organise travel on such a mass scale would never place so many on a single plane - my own employer has a limit of 13 - if only because of the potential consequences of a crash for the families of so many connected victims.

I think all carriers have this "get out of jail" card! It was a little ironic that when booking a trip to France last year to watch & ride parts of Le Tour - Air France couldn't even manage to book our bikes (two) onto a flight until we pitched up at the Airport! We were still expected to pay for them though, with the prospect of arriving at check in only to find we may have to fly to our Cycling holiday, in France, for the Tour de France & on the French national airline - without our bikes! We booked with Jet2 no problems.

Perhaps the bikes weren't 'aero' enough....

I'll get me coat.