99%of checked-in baggage delivered on time to passengers

Manila Bulletin
April 27, 2012

About 99.1 percent of checked baggage was delivered on time to passengers in 2011, the highest rate of successful delivery since the SITA baggage report was first produced and represents a saving of US$650 million to the air transport industry over 2010.

Any mishandled bag - checked baggage that has been delayed, damage, pilfered, lost or stolen - is a concern for both passengers and airlines but significant improvements have been made by the industry in recent years.

SITA's report shows that the mishandled rate has more than halved since 2007, down 52.4 per cent from 18.88 bags per thousand passengers in 2007 to 8.99 bags per thousand last year.

SITA CEO Francesco Violante said: "This is great news for the industry. Significantly improving the handling of baggage to over 99 per cent has saved airlines US$650 million while also providing better service to passengers."

"In 2011, even though we saw a rise in the number of passengers travelling to 2.87 billion passengers, the industry achieved a reduction in mishandle bags to 25.8 million. This is 6.5 million fewer bags mishandled than 2010's figure of 32.3 million."

Violante noted that 2011 was less challenging than 2010 when adverse weather and volcanic ash clouds caused major discuption but the fact that the industry has halved the moshandle rate over the past five years is an enormous achievement which has benefited millions of passengers and directly delivered improvements to airline earings.

"These results are due to concerted efforts by airlines, airports and ground handlers through the IATA Baggage Improvement Programs; increased focus on standards and best practices by the Airports Council International; and the implementation of sophisticated baggage management solutions such as SITA BagManager."

SITA is the IT provider for the air transport industry and operates WorldTracer, the global system that helps airlines track down mishandled luggage. Used by more than 450 airlines and ground handlers, WorldTracer collastes reports of missing bag and delivers updated information on actual locations from more than 100 airports around the world. During 2011, WorldTracer recorded 8.99 mishanled bags per thousand passengers, down from 12.07 in 2010. (EHL)