Sawt Falasteen - Paris airport pandemonium as bag handler breaks

A breakdown in the luggage-sorting equipment at terminal four of Orly airport meant that baggage had to be handled by hand.

That resulted in many flights leaving late and without the luggage of their passengers on board, according to the airport operator and airlines.

According to Marc Rochet, head of the French Bee and Air Caraibes airlines using the affected terminal, flights took off with delays between one and three hours -- and without luggage that had been checked in.

"We didn't have another option, otherwise the whole system would be blocked," he told AFP. Passengers' luggage would be flown on to them on following flights.

Airport operator ADP estimated 10,000 passengers on 40 flights were affected, but said that the reason for the breakdown had not been determined.

It was trying to adapt by having planes use other terminals at the airport or use Paris Charles de Gaulle airport.

Junior transport minister Clement Beaune called the situation "unacceptable", coming just weeks after the government made a series of proposals to improve the quality of service ahead of the Olympic Games next year.

"This is exactly the type of concrete things that we need to watch," said Beaune. "When one link of the chain breaks you have a really big problem."

G.AbuHamad--SF-PST