Airport Guide
Lawmakers set to clamp down on airlines' lost luggage apathy
Alongside imposing often draconian charges for 'optional extras', budget airlines have long put their ability to offer consumers a flight from the UK to mainland Europe for next to nothing down to quick turnaround times on the tarmac.
Indeed, such budget carriers have partly revolutionised how airlines operate, with millions of passengers often unaware that the plane they are heading from London to Rome on has already made the trip twice that day, or even flown in to the UK capital from some other destination.
It is hardly surprising then that, along with surly air hostesses who have to put up with going through the whole safety and sales routine time after time, the number of bags getting lost in between the hold and the terminal building is not getting any lower.
According to a new study from the Air Transport Users Council (AUC), the world's airlines collectively 'mishandled' some 42 million items of luggage over the course of 2007, with one million of these lost forever and this situation showing no signs of improvement.
Notably, while the organisation's research found low-cost airlines were not the worst offenders when it came to losing luggage, largely due to their 'point-to-point' system of operations, they are in a league of their own in terms of assisting passengers whose bags have gone astray.
The AUC argued that budget carriers make a habit of acting more like insurance companies than normal airlines, that is by looking for ways out of recompensing passengers for their loss and inconvenience.
It revealed that, with companies such as Ryanair offering just £15 per lost luggage item, many passengers are being left "seriously out of pocket" through the existing system, with one case investigated by the AUC involving a passenger who claimed £1,200 for a missing bag only to receive just £79.34 as she did not have any receipts to prove the value of the items in question.
On the plus side, it is increasingly looking like the days of airlines being blasé about luggage are drawing to a close as the AUC joins other consumer groups in calling for stricter penalties for offending operators.
On the back of these latest findings, European transport commissioner, Antonio Tajani has confirmed he has launched an investigation into the best way to fight the consumer's corner.
"Safeguarding passenger rights is an essential component of European transport policy," Mr Tajani said.
"The European commission wants to be close to its citizens, providing them with solutions to the problems they encounter. It is for this reason that I have decided to act immediately so as to shed some light on these alarming figures which, if they were to be confirmed, would call for a strong political intervention.
As an interesting aside, these comments come as a student in the US fights a lawsuit against an airline, claiming he is owed $500,000 for the Xbox console it lost, largely as a result of the 'value' of his saved games.
Indeed, such budget carriers have partly revolutionised how airlines operate, with millions of passengers often unaware that the plane they are heading from London to Rome on has already made the trip twice that day, or even flown in to the UK capital from some other destination.
It is hardly surprising then that, along with surly air hostesses who have to put up with going through the whole safety and sales routine time after time, the number of bags getting lost in between the hold and the terminal building is not getting any lower.
According to a new study from the Air Transport Users Council (AUC), the world's airlines collectively 'mishandled' some 42 million items of luggage over the course of 2007, with one million of these lost forever and this situation showing no signs of improvement.
Notably, while the organisation's research found low-cost airlines were not the worst offenders when it came to losing luggage, largely due to their 'point-to-point' system of operations, they are in a league of their own in terms of assisting passengers whose bags have gone astray.
The AUC argued that budget carriers make a habit of acting more like insurance companies than normal airlines, that is by looking for ways out of recompensing passengers for their loss and inconvenience.
It revealed that, with companies such as Ryanair offering just £15 per lost luggage item, many passengers are being left "seriously out of pocket" through the existing system, with one case investigated by the AUC involving a passenger who claimed £1,200 for a missing bag only to receive just £79.34 as she did not have any receipts to prove the value of the items in question.
On the plus side, it is increasingly looking like the days of airlines being blasé about luggage are drawing to a close as the AUC joins other consumer groups in calling for stricter penalties for offending operators.
On the back of these latest findings, European transport commissioner, Antonio Tajani has confirmed he has launched an investigation into the best way to fight the consumer's corner.
"Safeguarding passenger rights is an essential component of European transport policy," Mr Tajani said.
"The European commission wants to be close to its citizens, providing them with solutions to the problems they encounter. It is for this reason that I have decided to act immediately so as to shed some light on these alarming figures which, if they were to be confirmed, would call for a strong political intervention.
As an interesting aside, these comments come as a student in the US fights a lawsuit against an airline, claiming he is owed $500,000 for the Xbox console it lost, largely as a result of the 'value' of his saved games.
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