A resourceful passenger at the Zagreb Airport finds a new way how to reach his plane.
A scene more appropriate for a comedy than real life happened earlier this month at Zagreb International Airport when a passenger was late for boarding and then used a special vehicle used for luggage transportation to reach his flight to Zurich, reports Večernji List on June 16, 2017.
The amazing story began in the international departures area on the ground floor of the new Zagreb Airport terminal. From there, passengers are transported by buses to airplanes which are not parked at one of the jet bridges.
On 1 June, the boarding on the Croatia Airlines flight to Zurich had been completed, the gate was closed, and passengers were transported by bus to the Dash aircraft, which was parked at a spot in front of the old terminal building. Travellers and luggage then boarded the plane. But one passenger, who was registered for the flight to Zurich, did not appear in time at the gate. When he finally got to the gate, there was no one else there.
However, he did not want to give up on his trip, so he decided to get on the plane any way possible. He saw a button to open the door in case of emergency, he pressed it and the doors opened. The passenger was then able to get out to the platform in front of the terminal building.
The next problem he had to deal with was how to find his aircraft, given that there were several airplanes parked there. He got lucky when he saw his suitcase on one of the luggage transportation vehicles. Since a registered passenger had not boarded the aircraft, the procedure is that the baggage belonging to the passenger must be taken off the plane. A passenger can travel without a suitcase, but a suitcase cannot fly without its owner. The luggage vehicle was just returning from the plane to the sorting area. The passenger stopped it, explained to the driver that his suitcase was there and that he was late for boarding. He then asked him to drive him to the aircraft.
The obviously noble-minded driver accepted his request, turned and drove the passenger and his suitcase to the aircraft headed to Zurich. The plane was still there, and the crew and handling agent allowed him and his suitcase to board. So, the protagonist of this story finally left Zagreb and arrived in Zurich. Together with his suitcase.
Zagreb International Airport announced they were still determining all the facts related to this event and that further details would be available later.
Croatia Airlines said that they knew about the 1 June incident, when there was a failure of services managed by Zagreb International Airport. The company requested a statement from the airport and, in accordance with the regulations, also filed a report with the Croatian Civil Aviation Agency. “The aforementioned event did not affect the safety of the Zagreb-Zurich flight that day, because both the traveller and his luggage, despite the omissions mentioned above, had undergone a security check,” said Croatia Airlines.
