In 2019, there were 41,968 recorded cases of missing and delayed luggage in Nigeria, a report by the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) has shown.
According to the report which was seen by Nairametrics, most of these delayed or lost luggage (about 41,473) were recorded for international flights. Only 495 cases of delayed and lost luggage were reported for local flights.
A total number of thirty-three airlines operated international flights during the period under review, including the likes of Air France, Royal Air Maroc, Delta, Turkish, etc. They operated a total of 15, 474 flights although they delayed 4,880 and eventually canceled 82 flights. See below for the total number of delayed/missing luggage for each of the airlines that operated foreign routes.
- KLM recorded 5,060 missing luggage in 2019
- Delta recorded 4,413
- Air France recorded 4,406
- Lufthansa recorded 3,054
- Royal Air Maroc recorded 3,041
- Turkish Air recorded 2,850
- Egypt Air recorded 2,267 cases
- Virgin Atlantic recorded 1,345
- Ethiopian Airline recorded1,517
- Emirates recorded 1,935. See the others by following this link.
Meanwhile, flights operated by local airlines also recorded cases of delayed/lost luggage in 2019. However, only 495 cases were reported, despite the fact that the total number of local flights is far more than the foreign ones.
In specific terms, nine airlines operated a total of 65, 401 flights last year. They include regular names like Air Peace, Arik Air, Med-View, Aero Contractors, Overland, Ibom Air, Dana Air, Azman and Max Air. In total, these airlines delayed 37, 510 flights and ended up canceling as much as 356.
No traveler anywhere in the world wants to hear that their baggage is delayed after flying for minutes and sometimes many hours to their destination. It is even more troubling when passengers lose their luggage. It is, therefore, unfortunate that thousands of air travelers lost so much luggage in a single year. The appropriate authorities need to do more in order to address this issue.
Note that although two new international airlines (Angola Air and Cabo Verde) joined began flying into Nigeria in 2019, five other airlines did not operate at all. They include Azman Air, Flynas Airline, Max Air, Med-View Airline, Mid-Africa Air.