According to a research done by the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security, under the aegis of Ministry of Civil Aviation, baggage delivery time at six major Indian airports has been sped up by 30% since January 2024. The Bureau also claims that around 90% passengers now receive their checked-in luggage within 30 minutes of landing.
Ministry of Civil Aviation stated, “From 62.2% of passengers getting on-time baggage delivery in January, the number increased to more than 90% from March 2024 onwards. More importantly, the progress has been sustained since then, and the percentage of bags arriving within 30 minutes has reached a high of 92.5% in May 2024. Post the exercise, an overhaul and upgradation in equipment, services, and monitoring was put in place to speed up baggage delivery. After two months of evaluation, it can be concluded through the latest findings that there has been a marked increase in the percentage of baggage complying with the globally accepted prescribed limit. In phase 2, the government has advised all international airlines as well as domestic airlines operating in other airports to ramp up baggage delivery timings following the same efforts.”
The results were achieved through an exercise conducted by the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security to enhance the baggage delivery system. Domestic airlines at six Indian airports – Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Hyderabad, and Bengaluru – were targeted for the same. The main aim of the experiment was to “avoid congestion at airports and to have better security”. In the experiment, the Bureau of Civil Aviation studied all the airlines present at the six airports, followed their process of delivering bags to the conveyor belt, and later presented them with their findings where they pointed out all the errors and suggested changes.
The Bureau also asked the airlines to ensure that the passengers receive their luggage within 30 minutes of arrival, following the standards set by the International Air Transport Association and Schedule 3 of the Operation, Management, and Development Agreement with airports. The exercise began on January 14, 2024, when only 62.2% of passengers received their baggage within the given time limit.