... But your luggage may be a little late

... But your luggage may be a little late

Luggage delays for air passengers worsened last year, and British Airways was one of the poorest-performing airlines, according to a report out this week.

Figures from the Air Transport Users Council (AUC) shows that an average of 16.6 bags per thousand passengers were delayed on flights operated by major European airlines during 2007. The worst-performing airline was TAP Air Portugal with a delayed-bags ratio of 27.8. BA was a close second, followed by KLM.

Air Malta and Turkish Airlines were the best-performers, each with a ratio of 4.5.

The statistics related to members of the Association of European Airlines, but not all carriers submitted figures. Among those not giving bag information were Virgin Atlantic and Aer Lingus.

The AUC said airlines operating through hub airports such as Heathrow fared the worst last year.

AUC chairman Tina Tietjen added: "We have spoken to BA and BAA, the airport operator of Heathrow, about the problems they had with baggage handling.

"We have some sympathy with the unique problems they encountered in 2007, particularly the increased levels of hold luggage as a result of the "one bag" rule. But whatever the extenuating circumstances, when passengers hand their bag in at check-in they expect to see it at the other end."

BA director of operations Gareth Kirkwood said: "While our performance at the vast majority of global airports remains good, we continue to experience a wide variety.....continued below

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of difficulties at our main home at Heathrow. The airport continues to suffer from a very stretched infrastructure running at almost double capacity."

guardian.co.uk © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2008