Loss of luggage on the advance: Europe depends on other regions!

Loss of luggage on the advance: Europe depends on other regions!

Mexiko-Stadt, Mexiko - dealing with luggage problems on air travel remains a challenge, especially in Europe. According to a current report by the Aviation Service provider Sita, it can be seen that the rate of lost or late arriving luggage in Europe is higher than in other regions of the world. In 2023, 12.3 luggage per 1,000 passengers did not arrive properly in Europe, an increase compared to 10.6 luggage in 2022, such as ksta reported.

, on the other hand, the rate in the Asia-Pacific region is only 3.1 luggage per 1,000 passengers and 5.5 in North America. However, it is important to emphasize that in the long -term comparison, the number of luggage in Europe, which does not arrive properly, shows a declining trend - in 2022 it was still 15.7 luggage per 1,000 passengers.

trend and costs in luggage management

worldwide were affected by around 33.4 million luggage, which is a slight decline compared to the previous year. 75% of these luggage arrived late, often within 48 hours. Nevertheless, the proportion of damaged or looted luggage rose from 15% to 18%. This increase is primarily due to the increased number of passengers and the increase in luggage delays, which are analyzed in detail in the Sita report. The estimated annual costs incurred by luggage losses in the industry amount to around $ 5 billion (approx. 4.35 billion euros).

Although the global rate for incorrectly treated luggage has dropped by 63% since 2007 and fell to less than 7 per 1,000 passengers in 2024, there is still an increase in delays and losses due to the rapid growth of air traffic. In 2023 more than 5.2 billion passengers traveled, and there were over 10 million more luggage that were delayed, lost or stolen, as from the results of the Sita Baggage IT Insights 2024 emerged.

frequent causes of luggage problems

The most common reasons for late luggage are wrong umbrellas during transfers (46%), followed by non-loading luggage (16%) and errors in ticketing or luggage switch (14%). Environmental factors and operational difficulties also play a role, whereby 8% of the delays are due to such problems.

• Most common causes of late luggage:
• wrong overload for transfers: 46%
• non-loading of luggage: 16%
• Error in ticketing, luggage switch or safety reasons: 14%
• Problems in airport, customs controls, weather conditions: 8%
• loading error: 8%
• Fixed cables or incorrect labeling: 4%

regional luggage losses and airports with the highest loss rates

In 2022, a total of 10.6 million luggage was lost in 2022, while North America recorded 5.8 million and the Asia-Pacific region 3.0 million missing luggage. These numbers prove the challenges with which European travelers are particularly confronted.

The airports with the highest loss rates are in particular Juárez Airport in Mexico City with 2.1%, London City Airport with 1.62%and London Gatwick with 1.58%. Frankfurt Airport has a loss rate of 0.6% and is therefore in eighth place in the international ranking of luggage losses, such as the 2024 shown.

The constant luggage losses and delays in international air traffic are not only a burden for travelers, but also for the airlines concerned, which have to struggle in opaque times for more efficient solutions for handling luggage problems.