Africa recorded the highest baggage mishandling rates for international travel, even as global rates fell by 23% to approximately 4,9 per 1 000 passengers.
This is according to SITA’s latest baggage insights report, which showed that Africa’s rate stood at 12,1 per 1 000 passengers, citing older infrastructure and capacity constraints as the cause.
Asia Pacific and the Middle East had the lowest rates at 3,41 and 5,0 respectively, which the report attributes to newer infrastructure and the early adoption of technology solutions.
Europe was close to Africa’s mishandling rate at 10,5, which the report says is due to more transfers alongside capacity constraints. North America recorded a rate of 5,6.
The total volume of mishandled bags also declined by 19%, falling from 30 million in 2024 to 24 million in 2025, according to SITA.
“We have seen a slight decrease in Africa, but not by much,” Selim Bouri, SITA’s President for Africa and the Middle East, told Travel News.
Cost impact
The report highlights that previously cited average costs of US$150 (R2 465) per mishandled bag are now considered outdated, with current estimates significantly higher at around US$260 (R4 270). For Africa and the Middle East, the average rises further to US$280 (R4 600), according to SITA.
Bouri noted that in Africa the average profit per passenger was around US$2 (R33). “If you have one mishandled bag, it's going to cut the profit of 30 seats. If you have five bags on one aircraft, it's going to cut the profit of the whole flight.”
“We realised the impact is bigger than what was perceived,” said Bouri.
Beyond passenger frustration, he warned that mishandled baggage could also contribute to higher airfares as airlines absorbed critical profit losses.
The report further breaks down mishandling costs by bag type, estimating delayed bags at US$245 (R4 025), damaged bags at US$255 (R4 185), and lost bags at US$635 (R10 430). Altogether, mishandled baggage costs the industry about US$6,3 billion (R1 trillion), or 15% of total airline profits.
Delayed bags dominate at 75% of cases, followed by damaged bags at 21% and lost bags at 4%.
Africa had a slightly higher percentage of lost baggage than the global average, said Bouri.
The report cites transfers as the core mishandling driver, accounting for 39% of cases in 2025, down from 41% in 2024. “The moment you have transfers; it increases the risk,” said Bouri. International trips involve more transfers, more handlers and tighter connection windows, increasing the risk of mishandling.
Bouri said airlines and airports should look to reducing operational costs while reducing baggage mishandling incidents.
Improvements
End-to-end, better data sharing, biometrics and AI-powered prediction are identified as key measures for improvement.
“There is a much better and bigger usage of technologies. The airports have invested in technological upgrades that are making it easier and automatic to track passengers’ baggage,” said Bouri.
Airports have also introduced new bag tag systems that remove the manual process. The tag is updated directly in the system so that the same 16-digit identifier remains but its meaning is redefined electronically, allowing systems to automatically recognise the updated routing and place the bag on the correct flight.
This shift has reduced what previously took three to five minutes to just one second. According to him, the impact has been significant, cutting mishandled baggage rates by roughly 80-90%.
“These kinds of improvements are making a massive difference,” he said, adding that this was the level of operational change now needed in Africa.
“There are solutions that can support the industry globally, and the impact in Africa would be even more significant. It is a clear opportunity for the region to recover and potentially exceed global performance by building smarter systems from the start.”
