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Mountains of suitcases are stranded at German airports
7/12/2022 7:51 am
Flying in the summer of 2022 – that requires nerves of steel. Significantly more often than usual, passengers and luggage are separated from each other for longer than planned. Abandoned suitcases are piling up at the terminals of German airports.
In view of the handling problems in air traffic, German airports are struggling with great difficulties with their luggage. A growing number of suitcases need to be handled at the larger airports, arriving at their destination after their owners, a survey has found. Passengers and luggage are separated, especially when changing trains at hubs such as Munich and Frankfurt.
Around 300 suitcases reach Berlin BER every day, which the airlines forward to their customers, as a spokeswoman said. That is significantly more than usual. Therefore, an additional area had to be made available for the suitcases to be temporarily stored. A large part comes from hubs such as Munich or Frankfurt.
In Munich there is a mountain of several thousand suitcases that have to be assigned, as confirmed by the airport operator. However, no one knows an exact number, and one is also not solely responsible: “A not inconsiderable part of these suitcases was sent from other stations to Munich to be processed here.”
At the moment, at peak times, there are thousands of suitcases at Frankfurt Airport that have to be forwarded, confirmed the operator Fraport, also without giving exact figures. It is more than in normal times. The reason for this is the lack of punctuality of numerous flights. Lufthansa recently canceled further flights to make the overall system more reliable. According to Fraport, however, extra areas for stranded suitcases do not have to be set up, as there have always been situations in the past in which more pieces of luggage had to be forwarded.
Hundreds of lost and found cases every day
According to its own statements, Hanover Airport records around five times more lost baggage items than usual. “We estimate the number at an average of between 300 and 500 lost & found cases per day.” Due to the pandemic, however, the figures for the years from 2019 to 2022 in particular are difficult to compare. “Of course, the number of loss reports increases with the increase in flight volume every year, also seasonally.”
According to a spokeswoman, at Hamburg Airport there are only problems with baggage that has been forwarded from other airports. The airlines are responsible. Lufthansa had recommended that passengers check the status of their loss report online and pick up their suitcase at the airport once the piece of luggage has arrived in Hamburg.
Düsseldorf Airport was unable to provide information about the luggage. A spokesman referred to the airlines and their handlers who are responsible for the baggage. Around 160 pieces of luggage are currently stored at Stuttgart Airport, a spokesman said. In the record year 2019, there were about twice as many at a comparable time.