Delayed luggage report released

It's one of the most annoying ends to a flight: you've arrived at your destination, but instead of appearing on the baggage carousel, your luggage has been sent to Frankfurt. (Unless of course, you're in Frankfurt, in which case your bags are probably in New York.)

Delayed or lost luggage is a complication that no traveller wants to have to deal with. But what should you do if your bags do go astray? Which airlines are the worst offenders for delayed luggage? And what will they do to help out if your bags don't arrive?

Cheapflights published a report yesterday on Delayed Luggage, which lists all the details for the main carriers in the UK.

It's an essential read if you want to find out the policies of the airline with which you're travelling. Researchers contacted the main carriers in the UK and Ireland to try and find information about the number of bags lost, the number of days within which you need to make any claims and what compensation they will give you while you are without your bag.

The winners seem to be SAS Scandinavian Airlines, and Air France. SAS has the lowest amount of bags lost: 10 per 1,000 passengers carried. Air France has the best compensation policy for delayed bags: up to €100 available on request at the airport.

Interestingly, many airlines were unwilling to release information about the numbers of bags lost. Though the Association of European Airlines (AEA) collects delayed baggage information about 25 airlines every quarter, all data is voluntarily given. If an airline chooses not to disclose information there is no legal obligation to do so.

The final numbers are fairly positive though. Despite around 17 bags being reported delayed per 1,000 passengers travelling on the worst of the airlines, the AEA states that of all bags reported delayed, around 85 per cent are traced and returned to passengers within 48 hours. So perhaps the most important information in the report is details of the compensation offered by airlines while you wait for your bag to arrive...

Read the full report: Delayed Luggage Report.

© Cheapflights Ltd Sabrina Wolfe

Comments

[Rhys]

Strange how SAS comes out as "Winners" perhaps becase its passenger load is very low compared to other airlines.

On average, over the past 12 years, I have taken around 1.5 flights per week, mainly Europe and America. In total, over this period, my luggage has been delayed twice, both times with SAS on the Manchester-Stockholm via Copenhagen route. SAS don't care about lost bags, compensation is never offered and it likes to take its time in getting the bag back to you.

A "winner"? Yeah, right. Tell that to all the people who make connections in Copenhagen (both times it was everyone's luggage, not just mine).