travel
Losing luggage can spoil a holiday, yet many travellers are unaware of their rights when something goes missing
25.12.11 - 12:33 -
A long row of misplaced luggage at an airport. SUR
Between Thursday December 8th and Sunday 11th 725 flights were scheduled to fly in to Malaga airport. More than 105,000 passengers used the airport.
One of passengers’ biggest fears, apart from the long queues at the check-in desk, is losing an item of luggage. Seven out of ten passengers have either experienced losing a bag or know of someone who has. Six out of these ten have no idea what they should do if this happens.
The fear is justified. World wide, airlines lost 29.4 million bags last year. Half of them were European airlines. That means for every 1,000 passengers, 12 bags are lost.
Half are found
Not knowing what procedures to follow when luggage goes missing further complicates the problem of getting luggage back or at least recovering the value of the lost bags.
Europe, with 50 per cent of the volume of air travel in the world, is head of the ranking for lost luggage, with nearly 15 million bags going missing last year.
Europe is followed by the United States with 22 per cent, Latin America and Asia with 10 per cent each and the Middle East and North Africa with eight per cent.
Bags are most frequently lost during the various stages of the trip. Four out of ten lost bags simply never reach the cargo hold of the plane. There are errors made when checking in and when handling the luggage, and also breaches in airport security.
The good news, especially at this time of year when airports are very busy, is that usually more than half the lost bags are found and handed back to the owners in less than 48 hours. Only 0.43 out of 1,000 are lost for ever.
Helpful advice
To minimise the risk of losing a bag, the travel website Liligo.com provides a few suggestions. The most basic is to make sure that baggage is clearly labelled and any tags or stickers from previous trips are removed.
It is better to check in early and it is advisable not to pack any valuable items, in case the bag goes missing.
Passengers are advised to check the bag is securely closed to avoid theft. It is also important to watch carefully as the bags circulate on the carousel in the arrivals hall. In the confusion and haste it is easy for another passenger to pick up the wrong bag.
