A new study has revealed the airline you're most likely to lose a bag on, with the likes of Ryanair, Iberia and Vueling Airlines making the list.
In the summer of 2021 alarming photos began emerging from UK airports showing great towers of suitcases and bags standing unclaimed in arrival lounges. After travel was shut down during the first and second lockdowns, airlines and baggage handlers struggled to deal with a sudden spike in demand.
As a result, many passengers found themselves spending several days of their trip without their luggage or coming back home wondering when their suitcase of souvenirs would arrive alongside them. While the situation is much smoother now, some airlines are better than others when it comes to misplacing passenger's belongings.
The Civil Aviation Authority dealt with more than 1,500 cases of UK travellers' lost luggage between 2018 and 2022, according to new research from the luggage experts at Bounce. The travel firm issued Freedom of Information requests to the CAA which shows the aviation firms that lost the most bags.
Almost half of lost luggage cases in the UK were from Heathrow (Lori Harito / SWNS)At the top of the pile is Ryanair, which was responsible for more than 12% of all lost bags on flights to and from the UK. The airline is one of the most controversial on the list, often facing criticism for its extra charges and interesting approach to customer service. It should be noted that Ryanair is the fifth biggest airline in the world by passenger numbers, so one would expect it to lose a larger number of cases than a smaller airline.
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In second place is Iberia, the flagship airline of Spain, which saw 133 cases referred to the CAA in the last five years. Iberia is based in Madrid and has been operating since 1927, it became a part of the International Airlines Group in 2011, after a merger agreement with British Airways.
Vueling Airlines is up next, Spain’s largest airline by both number of aircraft and number of destinations. The airline which is also part of the International Airlines Group, had 99 cases of lost luggage over the previous five years. Royal Air Maroc and Qatat Airways followed, making up the top five.
A spokesperson for Ryanair said: "These figures do not take into account the volume of passengers carried by each airline – Ryanair is the UK’s No.1 airline operating over 440 routes and carrying over 52m passengers p.a. to/from the UK and leads the industry with fewest lost bags – 1 bag mishandled per 10,000 passengers."
The airport with the most cases of lost luggage according to the study was London Heathrow, at 465. Heathrow is the busiest airport in Europe, so it stands to reason that the odd case would go missing! In fact, three of the top ten airports for lost luggage were found in the English capital. Another London airport came in second place, with 166 cases of luggage being lost in the last five years at Gatwick. Located just outside of Central London, near Crawley, Gatwick is the second busiest airport in the country and the tenth busiest in Europe.
The non-London airport with the most baggage loss cases and the third most overall was Manchester, with 151 cases reported to the CAA in the last five years. Being the UK’s busiest airport outside of the capital and the third busiest in the whole of the UK, Manchester saw just under 23 million passengers in 2022.
UK's worst airports for lost luggage
London Heathrow - 49.68% of mishandled baggage cases
London Gatwick - 17.74% of mishandled baggage cases
Manchester - 16.13% of mishandled baggage cases
London Stansted - 8.87% of mishandled baggage cases
Birmingham - 5.24% of mishandled baggage cases
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Cody Candee, CEO and Founder at Bounce, shared his top tips for dealing with lost luggage:
- Report missing luggage immediately
As soon as you realise your luggage is missing, find your airline’s representative and file a claim with them before you leave the airport. If you can’t find a representative, source their contact information and give them a call. You will be asked to file a lost baggage report and provide a description of the colour, make and model of your luggage. If you don’t hear back from the airline after three days, it’s best to update your claim with more specific details about the contents of your bags.
- Have your luggage delivered
After you’ve reported your luggage lost, most airlines will deliver it to you for free if it’s found, although this isn’t always the case, so make sure to clarify this from the outset. Ask a representative to have your luggage delivered to your accommodation or your home address if this isn’t possible. Exchange contact details with the airline and ask for a tracking number to check up on the delivery of your bags.
- Ask for a refund
If the airline has lost your luggage, then they may be able to refund your checked baggage fees. Airlines have 21 days to return your lost luggage, although you can make a claim for delayed luggage if they get it to you within this time. If they haven’t delivered your bags within 21 days, you can claim for lost luggage.
- Keep your receipts
If you’re going to be without your luggage for a while, you’ll need to replace items like clothing, toiletries and other essentials to keep you going until you get it back. If this is the case, keep hold of your receipts so you can be fully reimbursed. To make your claim for lost luggage more likely to be approved, make sure you check what the airline considers reasonable or necessary expenses and only replace what has been lost.
- Double-check your insurance policy
Different insurance policies will have different coverage; be sure to check whether your travel insurance covers lost luggage or not. If not, it may even be worth checking your homeowner’s insurance, or the credit card you used to book the flight, as these sometimes have lost luggage benefits too.
- Check your luggage
Hopefully, you’ll be able to recover your lost luggage and when you do, check it thoroughly for damage and make sure the contents are intact too. If anything is amiss in your luggage. The airline should be able to replace any lost or damaged items.
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