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Malaysia Airlines Flight MH4 departed Kuala Lumpur International Airport on Tuesday (8 Sep) and landed at Manchester Airport at 5:04 PM BST, following a diversion from London Heathrow, which had shut down that day.
The Airbus A350 widebody aircraft carried passengers on a scheduled 13-hour service.
Upon landing, passengers disembarked and proceeded to the baggage reclaim area.
No luggage arrived for three to four hours.
No carousel number was assigned.
No Malaysia Airlines ground representative was present to provide instructions.
Passengers And Crew Received No Guidance, Leong Says
Malaysian comedian Dr Jason Leong, who was aboard the flight, posted a video complaint from Manchester Airport at 11:06 PM local time.
In the video, Leong said passengers were not informed whether they would be transferred to a hotel, rebooked onto a connecting flight to Heathrow, or required to wait for luggage delivery on-site.
Leong also said the airline’s own cabin crew — flight attendants and pilots — had not been assigned hotel accommodation and had no information on next steps.
They even abandoned their own cabin crew.
Leong noted that Manchester Airport was simultaneously receiving multiple flights diverted from Heathrow and said he did not hold the airport responsible for the baggage delays.
His criticism was directed specifically at Malaysia Airlines’ crisis management.
According to Leong, the captain of Flight MH4 tried to reach Malaysia Airlines by phone while answering questions from passengers in the terminal.
Leong praised the cabin crew’s conduct throughout the incident, describing the flight attendants and pilots as professional.
Other Passengers Corroborate The Account
Multiple passengers and their relatives posted accounts on social media in the hours following the diversion, corroborating key details of Leong’s account.
A passenger identified as Noor Atikah Ahmad confirmed in a public Facebook group, True Malaysia Airlines Fans Group, that she was on the flight and was still waiting for baggage at the time of posting. A photo accompanying the post showed luggage in the terminal area.
Bernn Lim posted a photograph of crowds at Manchester Airport and said a relative was among the passengers on Flight MH4.
Song Kok Full posted that the captain had announced passengers would be put up for the night in Manchester, and that hotel accommodation was being coordinated through Swissport, the contracted ground handler at Manchester Airport.
The post added that passengers were still on the tarmac at the time.
Capt announced, put up a night at Manchester, waiting for Swissport to secure hotel accommodations, we are still at the tarmac, about 15 flights diverted to MAN.
Andrew Leong suggested the failure may lie with the ground handler rather than the airline directly, writing: “Looks like the ground handler that is supposed to handle MH in the event of diversion in MAN didn’t do what they were supposed to do.”
Available accounts do not establish whether the delay in hotel arrangements and passenger communication was a failure of Malaysia Airlines’ crisis protocols, Swissport’s ground operations, or both.
Once Your Bag Is Found
Passengers from Flight MH4 who have not yet recovered their luggage are advised to:
- File a report through the Malaysia Airlines Self-Service Baggage Reporting Portal to obtain a Property Irregularity Report (PIR) reference number
- Retain receipts for essential purchases made during the delay period, which may be submitted for reimbursement through the Malaysia Airlines Feedback Form
- Track baggage status using the PIR reference number via the airline’s portal
- Malaysia Airlines’ standard procedure is to courier delayed baggage directly to the passenger’s confirmed address once the item is located
Comprehensive travel insurance will generally reimburse these expenses, provided the policy was purchased before the airline disruption became public knowledge.
In the absence of immediate on-site arrangements, some passengers incurred out-of-pocket expenses for accommodation and transport.
This scenario falls under Trip Delay, Missed Connection, or Travel Disruption benefits.
TRP has contacted Malaysia Airlines for comment.
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