Relevant stakeholders working hard to curb luggage break-ins – FlySafair

FlySafair has apologised to customers who have complained about their luggage being broken into at OR Tambo International Airport.

Anti-crime activist Yusuf Abramjee shared on Tuesday that he had been getting more reports from people complaining about their luggage being broken into at the airport and their valuables being stolen.

“This must be stopped! Urgent interventions are required,” he said.

Getting more and more reports of bags of passengers being broken into at @ortambo_int and valuables being stolen. This must be stopped! Urgent interventions are required. @Airports_ZA #CrimeWatch @SAPoliceService @GP_CommSafety @DoTransport @DrBladeNzimande @GovernmentZA

— Yusuf Abramjee (@Abramjee) December 25, 2018

Abramjee’s tweet gave more people a chance to share their own stories of bags being broken into and valuables being stolen.

“My bag was also opened for the very first time, I was shocked no more will I fly with FlySafair shame they can miss me,” said Twitter user Nicky.

FlySafair apologised to Nicky, saying they were working hard to fix the problem.

“We apologise for the unpleasant experience. We are prohibited from controlling the security of baggage ourselves and use Swissport to handle luggage. We are, however, applying pressure to the best of our ability to ensure that this issue is curbed,” it said.

We apologize for the unpleasant experience. We are prohibited from controlling the security of baggage ourselves and use Swissport to handle luggage. We are, however, applying pressure to the best of our ability to ensure that this issue is curbed. – BN

— FlySafair (@FlySafair) December 26, 2018

Responding to a user who asked who they were applying pressure to, FlySafair said: “All relevant stakeholders are involved.”

All relevant stakeholders are involved. – BN

— FlySafair (@FlySafair) December 26, 2018

Airports Company SA also encouraged travellers to report all luggage incidents for investigation.

“Please note we provide physical infrastructure. Baggage is handled by the airlines service provider. We do tackle baggage incidents as a community however and all baggage incidents must be reported to the airline for investigation. We hope this clarifies,” it said.

Good day Yusuf, we always urge that passengers who experience baggage incidents to report it to the airline immediately. We do investigate as a community and it is imperative that the cases are reported through the correct channels to enable the airport community to investigate.

— Airports Company SA (@Airports_ZA) December 26, 2018

However, this did not stop many others from sharing their painful experiences.

“My friend returning from USA had all her clothes stolen except two pairs of underwear! No valuables as such just her personal stuff,” said one user, while another said: “This is true. May I add a report as well. We traveled to Mozambique using LAM this December for a holiday. The one suitcase was broken into. The lock was literally broken off such that the suitcase will now never lock again. A cologne was missing inside the broken suitcase.”

This is true. May I add a report as well. We traveled to Mozambique using LAM this December for a holiday. The 1 suitcase was broken into. The lock was literally broken off such that the suitcase will now never lock again. A cologne was missing inside the broken suitcase. pic.twitter.com/lJop2I2NHn

— Notcha… (@JustNotcha) December 26, 2018

Another said they had lost count on the number of times their luggage had been broken into, “it’s always so disheartening. When I get my luggage intact it’s a surprise.”

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