Air passengers flying in to Schiphol accused the airport’s management of leaving them in the dark after the baggage retrieval system went down for several hours.

The carousels in Terminal 3 stopped rolling at around 8.30am as a result of a brief power failure. The system was restored at 10.30am, according to a spokesman for the airport.

Passengers used social media to complain about the lack of communication from airport officials about why their bags were not being offloaded. Sam Jones wrote: ‘Thousands waiting and no communication from Schiphol. Other bags pass 1000 times and Schiphol and KLM know nothing. Passengers fuming.’

Twee uur wachten op koffers. Van band 22 naar band 4. Duizenden wachtenden en geen communicatie van Schiphol. Ander koffers passeren 1000 x Schiphol en KLM weten van niets. Passagiers ziedend. Echt waardeloos! #schiphol #bagage #stroomstoring #AT5 #NH #NOS item! pic.twitter.com/8LJ0VK5KSJ

— Sam Jones (@SamJonesNews) October 1, 2018

An airport spokesman said passengers were having to wait ‘a little longer’ to retrieve their bags and staff were working to clear the backlog.

The baggage systems in terminal three are up and running again. We are doing our utmost to assure that every suitcase is delivered to its proper owner as soon as possible. Travellers still have to take into account longer waiting times at baggage reclaim.

— Schiphol (@Schiphol) October 1, 2018