A total of 42.4 million bags were mishandled or delayed in 2007 by airports and airlines last year, new figures show. 

The air transport industry lost $3.8 billion because of growing pressures on baggage management linked to passenger volumes, tight aircraft turnaround times, and heightened security measures.

The industry is estimated to handle around 2.25 billion pieces of checked baggage every year.

The single largest cause of baggage delay was in transfer baggage mishandling at 49%, down from 61% in 2005.

This was followed by ticketing error/ passenger bag switch/ security/ other, 14%; failure to load, 16%; space-weight restriction, 5%; loading/offloading error, 5%; tagging errors, 3%; and arrival station mishandling, 8%.

The statistics come from SITA, the IT provider which tracks passenger baggage worldwide for the air transport industry.

It has launched a report which shows how baggage handling can be improved at the world’s busiest airports through the better use of technology.

CEO Francesco Violante said: “Once again, the past year has seen an increase in the amount of baggage mishandled worldwide.

“It is important that we continue to move towards a comprehensive, fully-integrated global baggage management system that can direct, track and trace passenger baggage throughout the entire journey from check-in to final delivery at the destination.

“RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) also has a role to play and could save the industry as much $700 million if it was fully implemented across the industry.”

IATA director general and CEO Giovanni Bisignani said: “We get baggage right 98% of the time. But with a total volume of over 2.2 billion bags in the system, the 2% that is mis-handled is a big problem that we need to fix. 

“IATA has developed a toolkit of 40 solutions designed to address the prime causes of baggage mishandling. And, because every airport is different, IATA Baggage Go Teams will visit targeted airports spreading best practice solutions matched to local needs.” 

by Phil Davies