Auckland Airport Baggage Woes Expected to Continue for Several Months

December 31, 2022

assenger Seth Scott says he took his third trip to the Air New Zealand lost baggage counter today and has waited a total of at least six hours.

“We’ve recovered one of three bags in the last week. On arrival, we were told to fill out a form and that the luggage would be delivered to our house.”

Scott says despite filling out these forms, he has received no updates from Auckland Airport or Air New Zealand regarding his luggage.

“The luggage desk sends no emails, no phone calls to update lost luggage. No one answers the phone. The only option is to physically wait at the counter. We’ve been waiting a week.”

Scott claims he was told by employees that there are thousands of lost bags, and they don’t have a system to locate them, for example by flight or last name.

“The computer only tells them if the luggage has arrived . . . one employee told us. It takes anywhere from 15 to 30 minutes per bag to locate with just one or two employees looking,” he claimed.

Passengers are not allowed to search for their own baggage due to security and Customs concerns.

Air New Zealand chief operating officer Alex Marren says the scale of mishandled baggage is a significant global issue that unfortunately isn’t going away any time soon.