Holiday time may now be upon us, but shocking new figures released by the European Commission have revealed the luggage hell sufffered by thousands of air travellers.

The study has shown that nearly 100,000 bags are lost per day in the world, 10,000 of those in the EU alone. The EU’s Transport Commissioner Antonio Tajani described the figures as alarming: “At a worldwide level and according to the International Society of Aeronautical Telecommunications, the number of bags mislaid decreased from 42.4 million in 2007 to 32.8 million in 2008, therefore a decrease of 20%. One bag in every 3000 is never found. At a European level, between January and October 2008, 4.6 million bags arrived late, and in the winter of 2008 and 2009 13 out of every 1000 bags were lost.” Tajani also revealed that nearly half of the luggage lost last year was linked to theft. What’s more passengers often face an uphill struggle to get compensation once their bags have been mislaid. The Commission has said it will consider an overhaul of the rules relating to lost air luggage. But disgruntled air travellers will have to wait until 2010 when the Executive will present its action plan on how to deal with the problem.More about: Airlines, Consumer Protection, European Union

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