Hello, holidays, goodbye, bags
Hello, holidays, goodbye, bags
An average of 10 passengers per flight in Europe lose bags: Study
PHOTO: AP
LONDON - IT'S the summer of lost luggage for travellers in Europe.
Such is the magnitude of the problem that travellers have been advised by the Association of European Airlines (AEA), which includes the major national carriers, to avoid checking in bags altogether and to take carry-on luggage instead.
The association released figures last month showing that an average of 10 passengers per flight lost bags between April and June.
British Airways (BA) was cited as the worst among Europe's major airlines, and is on track to lose a record 1.3 million bags this year.
After a luggage 'mountain' of some 22,000 lost bags piled up in London recently, BA was forced to fly 10 baggage-only jumbo jets to the US to reunite passengers with their belongings, said Ms Laura Goodes, a spokesman.
'Our baggage performance has not been as good as we would have liked and we fully apologise to those customers who have been affected by delayed baggage in the past few months,' Ms Goodes said.
Lost in transit
An average of 10 passengers per flight in Europe lost bags between April and June, said the Association of European Airlines (AEA).
British Airways was the worst among Europe's major airlines with respect to lost luggage, the AEA said. The carrier mislaid 28 bags for every 1,000 passengers during that period.
... more
A chronic shortage of bag handlers and aged infrastructure at London's Heathrow Airport, underscored by a faulty conveyor belt between Terminals One and Four, are said to be exacerbating the problem for British Airways.
Figures from AEA show that since March last year, BA has been either the worst or the second-worst airline in Europe for looking after luggage.
In the latest figures released last month - for the second quarter of the year - BA mislaid 28 bags for every 1,000 passengers. Around 300,000 bags failed to turn up on carousels - almost double the level of competitors such as Air France and Lufthansa.
Those two airlines both carried three million more passengers than BA during the period, but lost only 16 bags for every 1,000 passengers.
The AEA revealed that there were 11 major problems with baggage systems at Heathrow during the second quarter.
Similar problems are bedeviling airports elsewhere in the continent.
At Rome's biggest airport Fiumicino, thousands of suitcases have been building up since late last month - the peak of the tourist season. Conveyer belts have malfunctioned and handling companies have lacked the workers needed to keep pace with demand.
Last week, a spokesman for Aeroporti di Roma, the company that manages Fiumicino, said the luggage service had 'almost returned to normal', but that 800 unclaimed suitcases may be auctioned off.
Growing numbers of passengers, both on major airlines and on smaller regional carriers, are compounding airports' woes.
Heathrow was designed to handle 45 million passengers annually, but now handles more than 68 million.
Neither is the problem confined to Europe.
In the United States, reports of lost luggage soared by about 26 per cent in June compared with a year earlier, according to US Department of Transportation figures.
They climbed from 6.3 per 1,000 passengers in June last year, to 7.9 per 1,000 passengers this year.
But it is probably not that surprising given that the 20 airlines reporting data to the department flew a record 3.69 million flights between January and June.
In Britain, hundreds of unclaimed suitcases are put under the hammer by airlines every week, with scores of iPods, mobile phones and digital cameras removed and auctioned off separately, according to a report in the Daily Telegraph.
Record numbers of bags are expected to be sold in the coming months, said one auctioneer, for prices of between £5 (S$15) and £50.
A spokesman for BA said proceeds in the 'tens of thousands of pounds' every year were donated to charity from bag sales.
An average of 10 passengers per flight in Europe lose bags: Study
PHOTO: AP
LONDON - IT'S the summer of lost luggage for travellers in Europe.
Such is the magnitude of the problem that travellers have been advised by the Association of European Airlines (AEA), which includes the major national carriers, to avoid checking in bags altogether and to take carry-on luggage instead.
The association released figures last month showing that an average of 10 passengers per flight lost bags between April and June.
British Airways (BA) was cited as the worst among Europe's major airlines, and is on track to lose a record 1.3 million bags this year.
After a luggage 'mountain' of some 22,000 lost bags piled up in London recently, BA was forced to fly 10 baggage-only jumbo jets to the US to reunite passengers with their belongings, said Ms Laura Goodes, a spokesman.
'Our baggage performance has not been as good as we would have liked and we fully apologise to those customers who have been affected by delayed baggage in the past few months,' Ms Goodes said.
Lost in transit
An average of 10 passengers per flight in Europe lost bags between April and June, said the Association of European Airlines (AEA).
British Airways was the worst among Europe's major airlines with respect to lost luggage, the AEA said. The carrier mislaid 28 bags for every 1,000 passengers during that period.
... more
A chronic shortage of bag handlers and aged infrastructure at London's Heathrow Airport, underscored by a faulty conveyor belt between Terminals One and Four, are said to be exacerbating the problem for British Airways.
Figures from AEA show that since March last year, BA has been either the worst or the second-worst airline in Europe for looking after luggage.
In the latest figures released last month - for the second quarter of the year - BA mislaid 28 bags for every 1,000 passengers. Around 300,000 bags failed to turn up on carousels - almost double the level of competitors such as Air France and Lufthansa.
Those two airlines both carried three million more passengers than BA during the period, but lost only 16 bags for every 1,000 passengers.
The AEA revealed that there were 11 major problems with baggage systems at Heathrow during the second quarter.
Similar problems are bedeviling airports elsewhere in the continent.
At Rome's biggest airport Fiumicino, thousands of suitcases have been building up since late last month - the peak of the tourist season. Conveyer belts have malfunctioned and handling companies have lacked the workers needed to keep pace with demand.
Last week, a spokesman for Aeroporti di Roma, the company that manages Fiumicino, said the luggage service had 'almost returned to normal', but that 800 unclaimed suitcases may be auctioned off.
Growing numbers of passengers, both on major airlines and on smaller regional carriers, are compounding airports' woes.
Heathrow was designed to handle 45 million passengers annually, but now handles more than 68 million.
Neither is the problem confined to Europe.
In the United States, reports of lost luggage soared by about 26 per cent in June compared with a year earlier, according to US Department of Transportation figures.
They climbed from 6.3 per 1,000 passengers in June last year, to 7.9 per 1,000 passengers this year.
But it is probably not that surprising given that the 20 airlines reporting data to the department flew a record 3.69 million flights between January and June.
In Britain, hundreds of unclaimed suitcases are put under the hammer by airlines every week, with scores of iPods, mobile phones and digital cameras removed and auctioned off separately, according to a report in the Daily Telegraph.
Record numbers of bags are expected to be sold in the coming months, said one auctioneer, for prices of between £5 (S$15) and £50.
A spokesman for BA said proceeds in the 'tens of thousands of pounds' every year were donated to charity from bag sales.
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