Airport ground handling operator Swissport issued an apology to the family of a dead man after his coffin was not unloaded at Dublin Airport (DUB) and subsequently flown back to Greece.
According to Irish Sunday Independent, the deceased had passed away while abroad in Greece and was being returned to Ireland on an Aegean Airlines flight.
The man’s family were reportedly waiting at the airport with a hearse but a mistake during the offloading of the aircraft meant to coffin was missed by staff.
Swissport, which handles airport ground services at Dublin, ensured the deceased’s coffin was returned to Ireland as quickly as possible and it arrived the following day.
“We are deeply sorry for the family’s experience at such a difficult time and did everything we could to ensure things were resolved as quickly as possible. We are now conducting an urgent investigation to make sure lessons are learned,” Swissport said in a statement to the Independent.
The accidental mistake meant the family had to rearrange the funeral date and have reportedly been left upset by the incident.
An internal investigation has been launched to understand where things went wrong.