James Wade hits out at British Airways as wait for lost luggage goes on: 'Not ideal preparation for one of the biggest major tournaments of the year'

British Airways is not making itself very popular in the darting community of late. At the recent 2025 Baltic Sea Darts Open, Ross Smith, Chris Dobey, and James Wade experienced issues with lost luggage. Sadly, for the latter, the struggles continue, as the wait to recover his personal and professional possessions persists. A growing concern for Wade with the World Matchplay approaching.

“I’d like to apologise — I’ve got no spare shafts or flights. I’m sorry, that’s why I’m not giving them away. No suitcase either," Wade reflected in his post-match interview on stage after winning in the last 16 of the European Tour in Kiel last weekend against Luke Woodhouse. "When I get to the Matchplay, my suitcase will be there though. Hopefully. Fingers crossed, anyway.”

As pointed to by Wade in that post-stage interview, the World Matchplay is looming large in the mind of the PDC pros. A former winner and five-time runner-up in Blackpool, 'The Machine' has had plenty of success at the Winter Gardens over the years. As mentioned though, the wait for Wade to recover his lost luggage is still ongoing, and as such, the 42-year-old has a growing concern ahead of this coming weekend's World Matchplay opener.

"British Airways what an absolute mess," begins an update post by Wade on his official X (Twitter) account. "Checked in for my flight to Hamburg on BA0974 from T5 Heathrow on Friday 11th July 2025, and said good bye to my luggage for what seems to be forever. Landed in Hamburg to the delight of no luggage. I was then told to expect my bag to be delivered to my hotel by 11:30 the next day. With frustration this never happened."

Having now returned to England from Kiel, Germany, Wade was made even more frustrated by what transpired at Heathrow Airport upon his landing. "On return to Heathrow today, I have been informed that the luggage has never moved from its current location and on request that BA return this to me in person, I have then been told that they are unable to return my personal and professional possessions and have to wait for their procedure of delivering the luggage to my home address with no specific time scale," he fumes.

"With me leaving to attend the World Matchplay on Friday the 18th July 2025 in Blackpool you can appreciate this is not ideal preparation for one of the biggest major tournaments of the PDC calendar year," Wade adds. "Absolutely shocking customer service."

As Wade's post was widely shared on social media, British Airways looked to quell the growing fury with a carefully worded response to Wade's criticisms. "Hi James, we're sorry to hear about your luggage. I know this would have been frustrating, especially when we were unable to get it back to you when you were in London Heathrow. We are working to have it delivered to you as soon as we can," the airline replied.

Wade though, was seemingly not impressed. "Thank you for your reply, but yet again very frustrating as this comment doesn’t really add and value, still no time frame or explanation given. If you can give me a date of tomorrow then I would appreciate that," he says, but sadly British Airways were unable to add any further clarity to the situation regarding Wade's lost luggage struggles.