Malaysia Airlines Tells Diverted Passengers To Leave Manchester Without Their Bags And Find Their Own Hotels
The airline will reimburse accommodation up to £150 per room after Flight MH4 was diverted to Manchester on Tuesday, where passengers waited for hours with no ground support, and crew members were left without hotel assignments.
Malaysia Airlines has announced recovery flights and a reimbursement framework for passengers stranded at Manchester Airport on Tuesday (8 Sep), after Flight MH4 was diverted there following a shutdown at London Heathrow — an incident that drew public criticism over the airline’s handling of the disruption on the ground.
The airline said flight MH4D will operate from Manchester to London Heathrow on Wednesday, departing at 5.45 pm BST.
A second recovery flight, MH1D, will then depart Heathrow at 8.00 pm BST, arriving in Kuala Lumpur at 4.15 pm Malaysian time on Friday (10 Sep).
The announcement came after Malaysian comedian Dr Jason Leong, who was aboard MH4, posted a video from Manchester Airport describing passengers waiting three to four hours for baggage with no Malaysia Airlines ground representative present and no carousel assigned.
Leong said the airline’s own cabin crew, including flight attendants and pilots, had also not been assigned hotel accommodation and had no information on next steps.
Multiple other passengers corroborated the account on social media.
Bags to Stay On Aircraft
Passengers have been told to leave Manchester Airport without their checked baggage.
Malaysia Airlines said offloading could not be carried out safely due to stand congestion and remote parking constraints.
All checked bags will remain in the airline’s custody and be flown to Heathrow on the recovery flight, where collection details will be provided on arrival.
Passengers requiring urgent access to essential medication from their checked bags have been advised to purchase what they need and keep receipts for reimbursement.
Hotel Cap at £150
The airline acknowledged that hotel accommodation across UK airports is extremely limited.
Affected passengers have been advised to make their own lodging arrangements and said it will reimburse hotel costs up to £150 (RM821) per room per night, along with reasonable meal and ground transport expenses, including taxi, ride-hailing, and train fares.
All claims must be submitted with itemised receipts through the feedback form on the Malaysia Airlines website.
Passengers travelling on MH4D are asked to check in at Manchester Airport Terminal 2, Zone D, counters D3 to D6, from 2.00 pm local time on Wednesday (9 Sep).
Passengers with onward connections booked directly with Malaysia Airlines have been advised to rebook through the airline’s website.
Those who wish to arrange independent onward travel from Manchester may also claim eligible transport expenses with receipts.
