Your luggage is in good hands at Abu Dhabi airport

Abu Dhabi - Abu Dhabi airport's delivery time of the 'first bag' is 16 minutes and the last one being 31 minutes.

When you arrive at an airport, mishandled bags can instantly ruin the first day of a long-awaited holiday - but this won't be the case when you are in Abu Dhabi. Tracking bags on arrivals has significantly improved delivery at Abu Dhabi International Airport, top officials said during the launch of an insight report by Sita, an IT provider for the air transport industry.
While the rate of global baggage mishandling is around 5.7 bags per 1,000 passengers over the past three years, Abu Dhabi International Airport boasts of a remarkable figure as it embraces technology.

"In 2018, we installed automated tag readers across the arrival belts in Terminals 1 and 3 and provided a platform for all airlines to comply with IATA Resolution 753 for automated arrival baggage scanning and tracking. We also introduced hand-held scanners to scan and track terminating out-of-gauge bags. In the first quarter of this year, our rate of mishandled baggage is not more than two bags per 1,000 passengers. It was 5.3 bags per 1,000 passengers in 2018," said Mohamed Nasser Al Otaiba, general manager of operations at Abu Dhabi International Airport.
Globally, tracking bags at check-in and while loading onto the aircraft has seen the delivery rate improve between 38 and 66 per cent.
On average, there are 50,000 to 55,000 bags tracked (13,000 arrivals, 13,400 departures and 28,000 transfers) at Abu Dhabi International Airport, with up to 60 per cent transfer passengers.
Even as transferring baggage from one aircraft or airline to another is a meticulous process, the airport does it in a clinical manner. "We make sure transfer time is respected."
Al Otaiba noted that the airport is taking all measures to make a journey comfortable for passengers.
"We have grown from 87 per cent delivery of bags in 2017 to 95 per cent in 2018. The Abu Dhabi airport is keen to include advanced technologies to ensure a seamless travel experience for our passengers. Our vision is to be a leading airport group in the world. The tracking system allows us to improve our service to our customers."
Abu Dhabi International Airport's delivery time of the 'first bag' is 16 minutes and the last one being 31 minutes.
Sita director of baggage Peter Drummond said that as the number of passengers and bags is rising, more focus should be given on the latest technology to decrease the cases of mishandled bags.
"In 2018, 4.36 billion travellers checked in more than 4.27 billion bags. More bags make things more challenging. Everyone across the industry needs to look beyond the process and technology improvements made in the past decade, and adopt the latest technology, such as tracking, to make the next big cut in the rate of mishandled bags," Drummond added.
Last year, Abu Dhabi International Airport handled 21.4 million passengers and 16.8 million bags.
ashwani@khaleejtimes.com

• Abu Dhabi