Over 26 mn mishandled bags reported in 2012: report

According to the ninth annual 'SITA' Baggage Report, in 2012, passengers reported 26.04 million mishandled bags. However, this number has improved from last year, for instance, in 2012, 8.83 bags per thousand passengers were mishandled, as compared to 8.99 in 2011,

SITA is an association that helps the airport transport industry in baggage tracking and tracing solutions. SITA along with its baggage handling and reconciliation systems, ensures that bags reach their correct destination.

Airline baggage handling improved last year with the rate of mishandled bags dropping 1.78%. A mishandled bag is defined as checked baggage that is delayed, damaged, pilfered, lost or stolen.

Delayed bags, accounted for 82.9% of all mishandled bags, whereas damaged or pilfered bags represented 12.9% of mishandled bags. Additionally, only 4.2% bags were reported lost or stolen.

Francesco Violante, CEO, SITA says, “Over the past six years, the rate of mishandled bags per thousand passengers has fallen 53.2%, saving the industry $ 2.1 billion in 2012 compared to 2007. With the number of air passengers expected to reach more than 3.6 billion by 2016, we still need to improve baggage handling operations."

The number of mishandled bags has dropped despite a 4.5% rise in passenger numbers to 2.95 billion.