Why luggage gets lost at the airport: Where does your bag go?

Sign up to Simon Calder’s free travel email for expert advice and money-saving discounts Get Simon Calder’s Travel email Get Simon Calder’s Travel email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. “We took the flight to Rome and when we were waiting at the baggage carousel there, none of our bags showed up.” open image in gallery Lisa Khan’s luggage among a pile of lost bags at Florence Airport A 63-day journey Over the next two months – and thanks to hours of phone calls, airport visits and persistence from Ms Khan’s husband – the four bags finally made their way back to the Khans, one by one. During one especially memorable incident at London’s Heathrow Airport in June, thousands of suitcases and bags were pictured piled sky-high outside a terminal, in what was infamously dubbed “baggage mountain”. “So, that’s why airports are often unable to tell passengers that their bags are there, if it’s in the wrong hands.” Where does lost luggage go? While it might not directly ensure the bag reaches its end destination, she says the biggest frustration with her family’s ordeal was that she and the airline “had no clue” where the luggage was.