13th October 2008: A shocking 3.5 million Britons have had luggage lost or misplaced
at airports in the last two years, according to new research1 from the leading travel
insurance company InsureandGo (www.insureandgo.com).
One in eight (12%) of those who have had their luggage lost believe it was stolen
intentionally.
- One in eight (12%) victims think their luggage was intentionally stolen
- One in eight people (12%) distrust baggage handler
Of those who have lost luggage, just over half (54%) say it was put on another flight
by mistake but they got it back eventually, but one in five (21%) said they never
got their bags back. A worrying one in eight (12%) people think their luggage was
stolen intentionally.
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What passengers believe happened to their luggage
|
Percentage of people who have had luggage lost or misplaced
in the last two years who believe this happened to their luggage
|
|
It was put on another flight by mistake but they got it back eventually
|
54%
|
|
I was told by the airline that it was just misplaced
|
50%
|
|
It was put on another flight by mistake but I never got it back
|
21%
|
|
I think it was taken mistakenly by someone else
|
17%
|
|
I think it was intentionally stolen by someone else
|
12%
|
Worryingly, it seems that the British public have little confidence in the honesty
of baggage handlers. Four per cent of people who have had luggage lost or misplaced
– equivalent to over 156,000 people – believe their luggage was stolen by baggage
handlers. Indeed one in eight (12%) of all adults distrust baggage handlers2, and
21% of people are so worried about losing their bags that they admit to having deliberately
packed less so they can take only hand luggage onto the flight, in an effort to
reduce the risk of baggage loss.
Perry Wilson, founder of InsureandGo, said: “We have seen a high level of claims
for lost or damaged baggage lately, but the claims figures only show part of the
picture because many victims of this problem will not have had insurance. This research
shows that customers are still clearly very concerned about losing luggage, and
they have little confidence in the airline industry to look after their bags from
one airport to another.
“Customers shouldn’t have to be this worried about the security of their belongings
and certainly shouldn’t have to be fearful that their bags will be stolen. We urge
the aviation industry to tighten their security procedures and do more to reduce
the number of bags they lose.”
People in Scotland are the biggest luggage-losers, with more than one in eight of
them claiming to have lost bags over the last two years, while those in the North
of England and the South East were close behind.
|
Region
|
Percentage of adults who have had luggage lost or misplaced
while flying from an airport in the last two years
|
Number of adults who have had luggage lost or misplaced
while flying from an airport in the last two years
|
|
Scotland
|
13%
|
529,400
|
|
South East
|
8%
|
807,700
|
|
North
|
8%
|
604,600
|
|
South West & Wales
|
7%
|
438,600
|
|
London
|
7%
|
435,800
|
|
East Midlands & Anglia
|
6%
|
302,300
|
|
Yorkshire & Humberside
|
6%
|
251,800
|
|
West Midlands
|
2%
|
77,100
|
Figures from the Association of European Airlines (AEA) stated that British Airways
had more delayed luggage than almost any other major European airline in 2007, coming
25th out of 26 in the AEA members’ rankings. Only TAP Portugal, which wasn’t part
of the InsureandGo poll, placed lower.