Aviation industry improves baggage handling

SITA announced an improvement in the air transport industry's rate of mishandled baggage. The newly launched SITA Baggage IT Insights 2024 reports the number of bags mishandled by the industry falling from 7.6 to 6.9 per 1,000 passengers in 2023.

This is despite passenger numbers rising above 2019 levels for the first time in five years, growing to 5.2 billion. The long-term trend underlines the positive impact of technology investments. A steep 63% drop in the mishandling rate from 2007 to 2023 happened as passenger traffic rose by 111%.

But the industry still faces challenges, particularly managing surges in baggage volumes. Pushing ahead with the industry’s digitalisation agenda is vital, argues the survey, focusing on AI for data analysis and computer vision tech in automated baggage handling.

That push must include full automation, good communication and full visibility of each bag’s journey. Other SITA research reveals passenger anxiety about delays and cancellations (32% in 2023). It shows that two-thirds of airlines now offer unassisted bag drop and 85% of airports offer self-service bag drop.