A liligo.com survey reveals : “76% of travellers are afraid of losing their luggage as soon as they check it in”

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
(Free-Press-Release.com) December 16, 2011 -- - In 2010 alone, 29.4 million passenger bags were lost, delayed or damaged. That’s up by 6% compared to 2009.
- Half of these bags (50%) were lost in European airports.
- For every 1,000 passengers, 12.04 bags were lost, delayed or damaged.
- 70% of travellers from our survey confirmed their bags were lost, delayed or damaged by an airline, or know someone else who had this happen to them.

London, November 2011. Based on results provided by SITA report on lost luggage in 2010, liligo.com wanted to know how travellers react when their luggage is lost, delayed or damaged and if this has ever happened to them. We found that an unsettling number of travellers don’t know their passenger rights when it comes to their luggage which poses serious problems when it comes to finding the lost items or paying out compensation money if the luggage is indeed lost.

Statistics
According to SITA (Baggage Report 2011), 29.4 million bags were lost, delayed or damaged in 2010. This is up by 6% compared to statistics from 2009. The results are consistent with those found by liligo.com and explain why 76% of passengers are afraid of losing their luggage.

According to SITA, the number of lost, delayed and damaged luggage can be blamed on an increase in passenger numbers and natural disasters. For every 1000 passengers, 12.7 bags were lost, delayed or damaged.

Europe is the worst when it comes to luggage. Nearly 15 million bags were lost in 2010, 47% of the world’s total. The USA accounted for nearly 22% of the losses and Latin American and Asia each are responsible for 10%. The Middle East and North Africa for 8% and the rest of the African continent, 3%.


Why does luggage get lost?
- The report presents various causes for lost luggage. The most common include:
- Luggage transfers between two destinations, 51%
- Failure to load the luggage, 14%
- Check-in errors, misread labels and breaches in airport security, 12%.
- Customs, weather and airspace restrictions, 10%.

There is one consolation to all of this: among the 12 bags lost for every 1000 passengers, more than half of those are recovered and delivered to their owners within 48 hours of being reported lost. In total, only 0.43 bags per 1000 passengers are actually “lost.”

How to avoid losing your luggage

- Customise it: there are dozens of ways to make your bag stand out from the others on your flight. Think bright by tying vibrant ribbons on the handles or decorating your bag with stickers. In short, make it stand out.
- Label it: never underestimate a luggage tag. Make sure you fill one out with your name, telephone number and address.

- Take it off: old flight stickers that is… Remove any old tags and labels so airline staff don’t get confused which trip you’re actually on.
- Check-in early: late check-in run the risk of their bags not making the plane. Check your bags in as soon as possible to allow enough time for your luggage to go through security, get sorted and get loaded onto the aircraft.
- Valuables: it is strongly recommended to keep your valuables (expensive or sentimental) out of your checked luggage it they are irreplaceable (camera, laptop, etc).
- Secure it: it’s very important to close your bag in such a way that it cannot be easily opened while in transit. Choose a suitcase with security locks and extra security features.

- At baggage reclaim: watch the luggage attentively as it comes out onto the belt to make sure someone doesn’t mistake your bag as theirs.

Source: SITA Baggage Report 2011

About liligo.com

liligo.com is the first travel search engine to integrate more than 250 sites (travel agencies, airline companies including 70 low cost, tour operators, hotels…) and allows travellers to access all available on-line travel solutions, sorted and presented objectively. Comprehensive, exhaustive, innovative, objective, liligo.com is dedicated to helping the user find their holidays and trips as simply as possible. Available in 10 counties and attracting more than 2 million unique visitors a month, liligo.com is a product of Findworks Technologies, a forty person start-up founded by Pierre Bonelli, Bertrand de la Ruelle, Xavier Corbel and Mikaël Quilfen in 2005.