Auckland Airport has said that it sees signs of "downstream impacts" of luggage handling issues in Europe and the US. Photo / Supplied
Auckland Airport has said that it sees signs of "downstream impacts" of luggage handling issues in Europe and the US. Photo / Supplied
Passengers are seeing luggage delayed by weeks and cases go missing as Auckland Airport warns of the "downstream impact" from ground handling issues on international flights.
Airports, airlines and ground handling agencies are seeing mishandled luggage complaints pile up. Travellers searching for baggage feel that they are playing 'pass the parcel' with lost luggage queries.
Some have taken to visiting the airport in person to search for cases themselves.
Caren, a doctor based in Sydney, said it took ten days to retrieve her luggage after arriving on a Qantas service to Auckland. A second piece of luggage is still unaccounted for.
Caren had been flying long-haul from Berlin via Sydney to visit family in New Zealand when she was separate from her luggage.
The last she had heard from Qantas was on July 6, that her luggage was being forwarded to Auckland.
Exasperated, she and her mother Ronelle finally went back to the airport on Monday.
"We went to the airport yesterday and found one bag between hundreds piled up and totally overwhelmed staff, unable to update tracking for these bags," said Ronelle.
Auckland Airport has said that it sees signs of "downstream impacts" of luggage handling issues in Europe and the US. Photo / Supplied
This was a fortnight into her family visit, including a trip to the South Island without her luggage.
They were able to identify the luggage because Caren had thought to take a photo of her cases. Ronelle says her daughter, who is hearing impaired and has a cochlear implant, is a very meticulous traveller and tries to keep tabs on flight plans.
Staff for Qantas' ground handling agency Menzies "were very helpful," she said and "kind as they could be, but you had the sense that they were totally understaffed."
Now almost at the end of Caren's trip, they are yet to hear back from the airlines' luggage services.
Auckland Airport, while deeply sympathetic to passengers' luggage issues, they said it was the responsibility of airlines and their handling agencies to track down mishandled luggage.
A spokesperson for the airport advised that they were expecting the problem to get worse as they see knock-on from handler shortages on long-haul routes.
"While we do see occasional mishandled bags in Auckland, we are monitoring the situation closely with some early signs of downstream impacts for travellers arriving in New Zealand from points of origin in the UK and Europe," they said.
Heathrow Airport in London warned that it may cut more flights from their summer schedules to reduce the strain if the chaos persists. Photo / Frank Augstein, AP
Qantas said they were looking to increase ground handling staff but "the entire aviation industry" continues to struggle with resourcing issues post pandemic.
"Our ground handling suppliers continue to increase their workforce numbers and resourcing has improved significantly since the holiday peak in April," said a spokesperson for the airline.
"The rate of mishandled baggage has improved in recent months," they said.
Menzies, UK-based ground handling ancents for Qantas, were contacted for comment.
Europe has seen huge shortages of services including luggage handling at airports this summer, as they ramp up from Covid-19 related restrictions.
Busy hubs including London Heathrow and Amsterdam Schiphol have begun limiting departures from airlines, to help manage cancellations and luggage handling problems. However the knock-on effects are already being seen in New Zealand and the end of long-haul networks.
"The problem is clearly not limited to Europe only," says Ronelle. "These guys here need urgent help"
