This airport has never lost a single piece of luggage in 30 years of activity

Kansai International Airport in Japan claims to have never lost a piece of luggage, a stroller, or a single bag in 30 years of operation.

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But for the employees of this airport which serves the Osaka and Kyoto region, in western Japan, this feat is nothing exceptional.

“We just follow the procedures and the rules and do what we have to do,” Tsuyoshi Habuta, a supervisor at CKTS, one of the airport’s handling companies, told AFP.

No “special training” for Mr. Habuta and his teams who manage more than 3,000 bags per day.

“We hand over fragile items, strollers, surfboards and skis directly to passengers,” he explains.

Baggage is placed on the conveyor belt “within 15 minutes of the plane’s arrival to reduce customer stress,” he says.

The international airport, among Japan’s busiest, was ranked the world’s best airport for baggage delivery in April by UK-based airport rating agency Skytrax.

“Everyone at Kansai Airport is proud of it,” Benoît Rulleau, co-director general of the airport, told AFP.

Few matches

Although it is easier to achieve this at an airport like Kansai, which handles relatively few connecting passengers, it nevertheless reflects the “incredible dedication” of airport staff, he says. .

The number of lost or delayed bags has fallen sharply around the world over the past decade thanks to technology, says Nicole Hogg, baggage manager at Sita, an airline IT service provider based in Geneva.

“If you look at the number of passengers, 6.9 misdirected bags (per 1,000 passengers) is a very low figure,” Ms Hogg told AFP.

Ten years ago, the number of lost bags per 1,000 passengers was “in double digits”, she added, welcoming the “sector’s investment in technology” which has enabled this progress.

Baggage is rarely misplaced when passengers have no connection, “the difficulty lies in transfers, when passengers have short connections and are trying to move from one flight to another,” he said. -she noted.

Kansai Airport recently returned to its pre-pandemic activity level with 25 million international passengers per year.

It should be able to accommodate up to 40 million passengers per year, according to Mr. Rulleau, after a renovation in preparation for the World Expo to be held in Osaka in 2025.