Travel Question: Can I claim for missing baggage?

Have a question? Ask our expert Simon Calder

Q Last Thursday I boarded Ryanair flight FR3152 at 2pm from East Midlands to Tenerife with my wife and daughter. We checked in four cases, i.e. all our luggage for a 10-day break. On arrival in Tenerife, only a few bags arrived on the carousel – presumably those checked in at the gate.

We were advised by Ryanair staff that no checked luggage had been loaded on to the aircraft due to a “security” issue. Chaos ensued whilst about 150 passengers filled in lost-luggage forms, and our holiday was interrupted by all the hassle of trying to track our bags down. To be fair our insurers said we could spend £250 per person on essentials. But can we claim compensation for all the inconvenience?

Craig R

A I contacted Ryanair about this issue, and the airline told me: “Due to a security alert in the baggage belt of East Midlands Airport on 25 October, the outbound baggage belt was closed for a short period, during which bags could not be loaded onto flights. These bags were sent to customers via the next available flights and we sincerely apologise for any inconvenience caused, which was outside of our control.”

When baggage irregularities like this occur, airline captains have a choice: do they wait for an indeterminate length of time for luggage to be loaded, taking the risk that a long delay could mean the crew being unable to complete the round trip within their legal limits, or do they leave bagless, more or less on time, to keep the operation on schedule?

Often they will choose the latter as the lesser of two evils, even though it involves lots of trouble and expense for the airline and its passengers.

Fortunately you have a generous insurance company; while airlines are supposed to recompense the cost of essentials in the event of delayed baggage, there are no legally specified limits, and disputes can arise about what constitutes “essential”. So being able to go direct to your travel insurer should save you yet more hassle.

Every day our travel correspondent Simon Calder tackles a reader’s question. Just email yours to s@hols.tv or tweet @simoncalder