Lost Baggage Procedures

What to do when your passengers realise that their bag has not arrived ?

When your passenger realises that his/her bag may not have arrived, advise the British Airways Customer Service desk, usually situated in the baggage reclaim area. A lost baggage report needs to be made up, detailing the make, model and colour of the baggage. The baggage tag receipt, given to the passengers when the bag was checked in in for the flight will also be required.

Then, a British Airways reference number will be given and a contact telephone number. BA will immediately commence to trace the bag(s) and when found we will contact the passenger by telephone.

At any time you (or your passenger) can check the latest update on the bags online, by CLICKING HERE and simply entering the baggage tracing reference number.

Note: Key to the World Tracer system definitions:

"ITEM LOCATED. AIRLINE IS CONFIRMING."
This indicates that your item has been located but may not have arrived at the airport from which it was reported missing. Some possibilities include: - only some of the items have arrived, e.g. 1 of 2 pieces - an item which is a possible match has been located at another airport - another airport has updated the system to say they have located the luggage. In these instances, we advise that you re-check the status of the luggage in a couple of hours time.

"RECEIVED AT AIRPORT".
This indicates that the missing item(s) have been received at the airport from which they were reported missing. Please note that in some circumstances the item(s) may be in other local airports, e.g. items reported missing at London Heathrow arrive at London Gatwick. British Airways will now arrange delivery of the luggage using a local courier as soon as the luggage has passed through customs.

"DELIVERY PROCESS INITIATED".
This indicates that the item(s) have been processed for delivery by courier.

"RECEIVED AT AIRPORT/DELIVERY PROCESS INITIATED".
This indicates that the item(s) have been received at the airport from which they were reported missing and they have been processed for delivery by courier.

"PENDING. PLEASE CHECK BACK LATER"
This indicates that there is currently no further news and that the item(s) are still being tracked. Please do check back later as our systems are constantly updated. If the baggage is delayed and later delivered to your passenger but arrives damaged or with items missing, you have 21 days from date of delivery to make a written report to British Airways. If the bag is not recovered within 5 days, you should submit a written claim to the Baggage Claims Department indicating the contents of the bag along with the value of each item. In all cases, a bag is not considered lost until a minimum of 3 weeks has elapsed.