Travellers have reported a backlog of lost and undelivered luggage by airlines at Auckland airport, with one man driving from Tauranga to Auckland to hunt down his elderly mother’s bag.

When Jim Taylor’s 79-year-old mother Mary arrived in New Zealand from Scotland, they waited ten days for her luggage to show up. But after almost two weeks with no response from the airline, he took matters into his own hands.

“The baggage service number and email are not returning any messages, nor did the Menzies Aviation operations director, or Auckland Airport,” said Taylor, who lives in Tauranga.

Menzies Aviation is one of the main baggage-handling companies airlines contract out at Auckland Airport.

Fed up, the pair drove 2.5 hours to Auckland on Monday to try and find Mary’s bags from Menzies’ on-site office.

Once there, they were met with a three-hour queue amongst other travellers. Taylor said just one employee seemed to be available to help people and while she was ‘fantastic’, he said the situation was ‘totally unacceptable’.

“All of the people - even the ones in wheel chairs or with crutches - could look themselves and it would be quicker.”

 “Auckland airport should be ashamed to call itself an airport with disgraceful service,” he said.

Missing bag? Call your airline, says Auckland Airport

Auckland Airport empathised with travellers like Taylor and said they were both aware and concerned about the increased number of mishandled bags.

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“It’s an issue Auckland Airport continues to be concerned about,” said a spokesperson, who said mishandled bags were arriving to the airport daily.

“While the number can fluctuate, there are currently larger than usual volumes,” they said.

When a bag does go missing, they urged passengers to contact the responsible party, which is the airline.

“Airports are ecosystems, and it’s always the responsibility of airlines to take care of customers’ bags and ensure they reach the right destination,” said the spokesperson.

“When bags go missing, airlines work with their ground handlers to find lost baggage and return it to customers.” Since airlines hold passenger information such as contact details, flight details and baggage numbers, they are in the best position to locate and reunite bags with their owners.

Around the world airports and airlines have struggled with increased rates of lost luggage. Photo / Supplied

Passengers queue for up to six hours

In the meantime, travellers have warned one another against checking in bags at all or if they’re lost, going to the airport to find them, like Taylor did.

However, a one-hour wait isn’t bad compared to what one traveller endured. Sharing their experience on a private travel Facebook group, Yiannis Sophocleous said she waited six hours for their bags at the Menzies Aviation office.

“We have arrived in Auckland New Zealand for a 2.5 weeks holiday and our luggage did not arrive with Qantas flight,” said Sophocleous.

After getting no response from Qantas or the baggage handling company, they contacted Auckland Airport, who suggested they visit the Menzies onsite office. There, Sophocleous waited six hours for her bags to arrive on a later flight.

Qantas said some travellers transiting in Australia onto flights to New Zealand have had their bags miss the connecting flight but they were working to minimise the impact.

“We are working with our baggage handling supplier in Auckland to reunite customers with their bags as soon as possible,” said a Qantas spokesperson.

Menzies Avation said they appreciated how delayed baggage could cause ‘distress and frustration’ and agreed that they were doing all they could to help passengers.

“Our team at Auckland Airport is working incredibly hard to reunite passengers with their bags as quickly as possible,” said a spokesperson.

“In response to the high volumes of delayed baggage arriving at Auckland, we have increased our dedicated Baggage Tracing team to alleviate the issue.”

Menzies Aviation assured passengers they would be contacted when their bag arrived in Aukland, to arrange delivery. However, Sophocleous recommended travellers waiting for a bag to be delivered should go to the airport in person.

“The Menzies onsite office people there are very helpful,” she said and was eventually reunited with her bags.

Why is luggage being lost?

Lost luggage has been an enduring symptom of the pandemic in the aviation industry, caused by a combination of staff shortages and high demand.

Auckland Airport said overseas disruptions typically trickled down to New Zealand and impacted operations here.

“We are continuing to see the downstream impact of offshore disruption in the aviation system impacting travellers arriving in New Zealand,” they said.

Since then, travellers have been warned to pack any important items such as medications, high-value goods or presents in carry-on hand luggage rather than checking them in.