Staffing issues led to passengers being left on planes for almost an hour after they landed.

Two British Airways flights were subjected to the delays of about 50 minutes at Gatwick Airport when they touched down early on Sunday morning.

Bosses at Gatwick cited issues with its ground handling company Swissport as the reason for the delays.

The two planes arrived at 1am and 1.03 am.

One passenger, Nic Pierce, commenting on Facebook, said: “How many times can you say your bags get off the plane before you do?”

Swissport is responsible for guiding aircraft to their terminal stands, providing steps and shuttle buses, and baggage handling.

Only last month, Gatwick Airport had to bring in about 45 of its own people to move luggage around after Swissport reportedly failed to meet service levels.

A spokesman for Gatwick Airport said: “This was nowhere near the degree of problem as has happened before.

He said there were no staff available when the two planes landed, possibly because they were working on other aircraft.

He added: “We are working closely with Swissport to address any issues.”

He said there were no ongoing issues for the bank holiday and that these were isolated cases.

British Airways expects 500,000 people to fly on its 4,000 journeys over the long weekend.

The airline expects 400,000 bags to be carried as well.