UK airports ranked for lost luggage from best to worst - where Birmingham Airport is rated

The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) dealt with over 1,500 cases of UK travellers’ lost luggage between 2018 and 2022.

There were far more instances of lost luggage across the country, but the CAA only deals with those cases that cannot be resolved by airlines themselves.

The data has been analysed by luggage experts at Bounce, which has ranked the top five UK airports which has the worst ratings for losing or misplacing luggage - and unfortunately Birmingham Airport features in the listing.

Which UK airports are most likely to misplace your luggage? Where does Birmingham Airport rank?

Bounce has analysed lost luggage on flights to and from the UK between 2018 and 2022 by sending a Freedom of Information request to the Civil Aviation Authority. The researchers were able to identify the 5 worst airports for lost luggage in the UK:

1. London Heathrow - 49.68% of mishandled baggage cases
2. London Gatwick - 17.74% of mishandled baggage cases
3. Manchester - 16.13% of mishandled baggage cases
4. London Stansted - 8.87% of mishandled baggage cases
5. Birmingham - 5.24% of mishandled baggage cases

By far the airport with the most cases of lost luggage was London Heathrow, at 465. Heathrow is the busiest airport in Europe, so it stands to reason that the odd case would go missing! In fact, three of the top ten airports for lost luggage were found in the English capital.

Another London airport came in second place, with 166 cases of luggage being lost in the last five years at Gatwick. Located just outside of Central London, near Crawley, Gatwick is the second busiest airport in the country and the tenth busiest in Europe.

The non-London airport with the most baggage loss cases and the third most overall was Manchester, with 151 cases reported to the CAA in the last five years. Being the UK’s busiest airport outside of the capital and the third busiest in the whole of the UK, Manchester saw just under 23 million passengers in 2022.

Cody, CEO and Founder at Bounce, reveals his top tips for dealing with lost luggage:

1. Report missing luggage immediately

As soon as you realise your luggage is missing, find your airline’s representative and file a claim with them before you leave the airport. If you can’t find a representative, source their contact information and give them a call. You will be asked to file a lost baggage report and provide a description of the colour, make and model of your luggage.

If you don’t hear back from the airline after three days, it’s best to update your claim with more specific details about the contents of your bags.

2. Have your luggage delivered

After you’ve reported your luggage lost, most airlines will deliver it to you for free if it’s found, although this isn’t always the case, so make sure to clarify this from the outset. Ask a representative to have your luggage delivered to your accommodation or your home address if this isn’t possible. Exchange contact details with the airline and ask for a tracking number to check up on the delivery of your bags.

3.  Ask for a refund

If the airline has lost your luggage, then they may be able to refund your checked baggage fees. Airlines have 21 days to return your lost luggage, although you can make a claim for delayed luggage if they get it to you within this time. If they haven’t delivered your bags within 21 days, you can claim for lost luggage.

4. Keep your receipts

If you’re going to be without your luggage for a while, you’ll need to replace items like clothing, toiletries and other essentials to keep you going until you get it back. If this is the case, keep hold of your receipts so you can be fully reimbursed. To make your claim for lost luggage more likely to be approved, make sure you check what the airline considers reasonable or necessary expenses and only replace what has been lost.

5. Double-check your insurance policy

Different insurance policies will have different coverage; be sure to check whether your travel insurance covers lost luggage or not. If not, it may even be worth checking your homeowner’s insurance, or the credit card you used to book the flight, as these sometimes have lost luggage benefits too.

6. Check your luggage

Hopefully, you’ll be able to recover your lost luggage and when you do, check it thoroughly for damage and make sure the contents are intact too. If anything is amiss in your luggage, the airline should be able to replace any lost or damaged items.