Cockroaches on a plane: Luggage on insect-infested aircraft sent back from Manchester to Morocco

Exclusive: ‘Colleagues say I should burn my baggage rather than bringing it into my home’ says passenger

Up to scratch? Royal Air Maroc Boeing 737, of the type which experienced the insect issue (Matt Carter)

Holidaymakers who returned from Morocco to Manchester airport last week are still waiting for their luggage, after the aircraft hold was found to be infested with cockroaches.

Royal Air Maroc flight AT818 from Casablanca arrived on time in Manchester at 5.20pm on Thursday, 15 August. But at 7pm, some arriving passengers were still waiting for their baggage.

One traveller, Karen Gee, said: “Checking my AirTag, I could see my case was indeed in Manchester. After 90 minutes of waiting in the baggage hall with no one’s luggage appearing and no communication, the nature of the problem was revealed.

“Apparently the aircraft hold was found to contain a cockroach infestation and consequently no staff members were allowed near it for health and safety reasons.”

Only one hold was affected, which meant some passengers were able to reclaim their bags – and there was space for the luggage of travellers returning on the flight to Casablanca. The Boeing 737 then flew back to the Royal Air Maroc hub at Casablanca’s Mohammed V International Airport, while Ms Gee and the other passengers waiting for baggage were told to go home.

Once in Casablanca, the Manchester bags were offloaded and the aircraft continued in normal service. The 15-year-old Boeing 737 made a scheduled flight to Abuja in Nigeria that night, and has since been to a wide range of destinations including Geneva and Paris.

The luggage was not loaded on to the next Royal Air Maroc flight to Manchester, which operated normally on Sunday.

On Monday morning – day five since the infestation was discovered – Ms Gee’s AirTag shows her baggage still to be at Casablanca airport.

Ms Gee, a senior travel industry executive from Shropshire, said: “Mine is a soft Antler suitcase, so I’m feeling super anxious that the cockroaches will have easily found a way inside to lay eggs or similar – especially as they are known to be incredibly resilient and difficult to get rid of, apparently surviving nuclear wars.

“Of course I’d like my stuff back but I don’t want to take any risks bringing it into my home. I asked some colleagues what they thought I should do and the overriding answer was not to take the risk and just burn it.”

But Professor Tim Coulson, joint head of the Oxford University Department of Biology, offered some reassurance about the limits of cockroach abilities.

The author of The Universal History of Us told The Independent: “They’d be extremely unlikely to be able to burrow through the material most suitcases are made from.

“However, they could hide in the cavities where the wheels are attached, or work through any gaps if suitcases are not zipped up properly.”

Dot marks the spot: Current location of Karen Gee’s case at Casablanca airport, according to AirTag (Karen Gee)

The next flight from Casablanca to Manchester is on Tuesday.

The Independent has sought responses from Royal Air Maroc, the ground handler Swissport and Manchester airport.

Royal Air Maroc is a member of the Oneworld alliance, alongside British Airways.

Insects have caused problems for British airline passengers in the past – but usually when they block the speed-measuring pitot tubes.