BA performs badly in delayed luggage league table

British Airways is the second worst offender when it comes to delayed baggage, according to data collected from European airlines.

In 2007, 26.5 bags were delayed per 1,000 BA passengers, compared to 23 bags per 1,000 passengers in 2006.

According to the table compiled by the Air Transport Users Council, based on airlines’ own data, the worst performing European airline was TAP Air Portugal.

KLM and Alitalia came joint third and Air France was fifth in the league table of worst offenders (see below).

The AUC said the average number of bags delayed on European airline flights has climbed from 15.7 bags per 1,000 passengers in 2006 to 16.6 per 1,000 passengers in 2007.

“It is notable that those AEA airlines that tend to operate connecting flights through “hub” airports come out worst. For example, Air France, KLM and British Airways all take up places in the top five poorest performers for 2007,” said the AUC report.

“This is borne out by industry research, which, according to the AEA, shows that 61% of baggage incidences are related to connecting passengers.”

BA director of operations Gareth Kirkwood apologised to passengers affected and blamed problems at Heathrow.

But he added: “Although Heathrow airport continues to suffer from a very stretched infrastructure running at almost double capacity, we also accept that on occasions our own levels of service have not been as high as we would like.”

He said the airline’s performance had been impacted by the restrictive cabin allowances, which led to an increase in the levels of hold baggage.

He also blamed operational difficulties due to the wet June and July and heightened security following the bomb attack at Glasgow airport, but said performance will improve once Heathrow Terminal 5 opens at the end of March.

Meanwhile, a BAA spokesperson claimed its baggage infrastructure at Heathrow “is very resilient and is not capacity constrained”, but agreed that T5 would improve the situation.

It also pointed to a six-month trial of RFID technology in Terminal 3 for Emirates passengers, which will be rolled out to other terminals and UK airports if successful.

The AUC said it had some sympathy with the unique problems of 2007, particularly the impact of the “one bag” rule.

“But, whatever the extenuating circumstances, when passengers hand their bag in a check-in they should expect to see their bag at the other end,” it said.

“Complaints to the AUC show that delayed baggage can cause passengers considerable stress, inconvenience and expense.”

It called on the European Commission to provide “name and shame” league tables on the baggage handling performance of all airlines, and not just those that voluntarily submit their data through the AEA.

Ryanair criticised the AUC for not including low-cost airlines in its research.

“If the AUC was not so absolutely useless and clueless, it would include the UK’s largest airlines in its so called report,” said a statement.

“Their report ignores that no other major airline matches Ryanair’s performance or the fact that BA passengers are now 40 times more likely to suffer a mislaid bag. The AUC has proved once again that it has no relevance for British airline users”.

The table shows the number of bags delayed per 1000 passengers. The first figure is the 2007 figure, followed by the 2006 figure. For some airlines, a 2006 figure was not available.

1 TAP Air Portugal 27.8 21.0
2 British Airways 26.5 23.0
3 KLM 19.7 16.4
4 Alitalia 19.7 16.5
5 Air France 17.6 16.6
6 Luxair 17.2 16.4
7 BMI 17.0 –
8 Finnair 15.8 14.2
9 Lufthansa 15.8 18.1
10 Spanair 15.4 9.5
11 SAS Scandinavian 14.8 13.3
12 LOT Polish Airlines 13.9 14.8
13 Iberia 13.8 15.5
14 Austrian 12.9 13.8
15 CSA Czech Airlines 12.4 10.8
16 SN Brussels Airlines 11.7 12.7
17 Swiss International Airlines 11.4 10.0
18 Icelandair 11.1 9.8
19 Air One 9.9 8.1
20 Adria Airways 9.8 9.6
21 Malev Hungarian Airlines 9.5 8.9
22 Tarom Romanian Airlines 9.5 8.3
23 Croatia Airlines 19.3 11.8
24 Cyprus Airways 8.8 –
25 Air Malta 4.5 4.4
26 Turkish Airlines 4.5 4.7

By Bev Fearis

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