The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority has released its executive summary for 2022, and the numbers are not promising for air travelers.
According to the report, foreign airlines operating in the country declared no fewer than 48,234 pieces of luggage as either delayed or missing.
The report attributed the problem to excess luggage and the non-availability of enough capacity by the airlines involved to carry the luggage.
Of the 48,234 missing pieces of luggage, 41,435 were later found, while 6,799 of the luggage could not be traced. At least 24 of the airlines that operate in Nigeria during the period under review were involved in the missing luggage, with KLM recording the highest number of missing luggage with 5,622. Air France followed with 5,480, and Delta Airline with 4,342.
Other airlines that made the list of missing luggage include Egypt Air with 4,247, Qatar Air with 4,221, Royal Air Maroc with 3,766, Lufthansa with 3,633, Rwand Air with 2,827, British Airways with 2,814, and Virgin Atlantic with 2,812.
Turkish Airlines recorded 1,657 missing luggage, Ethiopian Air with 1,380, Africa World with 1,300, United Airlines with 841, Air Cote d’Ivoire with 671, Asky Airline with 879, South African Airways with 622, Emirates with 174, Keyan Air with 754, and Middle East Airline with 69, Investors King report.
The report showed that the first quarter of 2022 recorded a total of 8,437 missed luggage, with 8,214 of them later found. The second quarter saw 15,923 missed luggage, and 13,236 of them were later found, leaving 2,687 still missing.
The last quarter of the year under review witnessed the highest number of missed luggage with 23,874, with 20,035 later disclosed, and 3,839 luggage had yet to be found.
When asked if the missing luggage was due to the carelessness of the airline or the passengers, the General Manager, Public Relations, NCAA, Sam Adurogboye, said: “The respective airlines are in a better position to answer the question. However, our people usually travel out light and return heavy. This usually led to some luggage being dropped till when there was space to accommodate them. But note that the next available flight priority will be passengers originally scheduled for that flight. So, it may not be due to carelessness. But once it was established that it was an outright loss, the airline involved would have to compensate the owner as required.”