The West African Regional Director of Consumer Unity and Trust Society, CUTS International, Lawyer Appiah Kusi Adomako says the practice in Ghana where passengers are responsible for frequenting the Lost and Found Unit of the Kotoka International Airport for lost and delayed bags is in direct contravention of the international best practice and aviation laws.
According to Lawyer Adomako, he cannot fathom why the same airlines operating in Ghana return delayed bags to the address provided by passengers to foreign countries but the opposite is practiced when it comes to passengers coming to Ghana.
The CUTS International boss who has had such an experience while travelling outside Ghana narrated how the airline bore the cost of the delay and returned his bags to him at his address.
“In 2014, I traveled to Birmingham, UK for a four-day conference and upon reaching my final destination, my bags did not arrive. I told the airline staff that I was in the country for a conference, and had nothing on me except what I was wearing and my backpack. The airline gave me a credit card worth GBP 400 to go buy whatever I would need for the first day of the conference until the bags arrived. I was able to buy a suit, a shirt and a pair of shoes and other necessities required until the bags arrived,” he narrated.
However, when he traveled to Ghana with the same airline and experienced the same delayed bags situation, he had to frequent the airport for days bearing the cost all alone.
He indicated, “fast forward two years later, I traveled with the same airline and when I got to Accra, my bags did not come. The airline did not do anything except to say go and lodge a complaint with the Lost and Found Luggage Unit at the KIA Airport. I had to trek to the airport daily for six days and got the bags on the seventh day. A nephew had a wedding gown in my luggage.”
“By the time I got the luggage, the wedding was over. On several occasions, I have had family and friends who arrive at Kotoka Airport without their bags and are continuing their journey to other parts of the country and they either have to cancel or reschedule their flight or stay in a hotel in Accra just to wait for their bags to arrive. Regardless of how long it takes and the cost incurred by the passengers before getting their bags, the airlines offer no compensation or reimbursement,” he added.
He therefore noted that this treatment the airlines met out to passengers to Ghana is directly opposite the industry standards and the International Civil Aviation Organization’s (ICAO) Montreal Convention.
Lawyer Adomako explains that “airlines are generally responsible for ensuring that delayed baggage is returned to passengers as quickly as possible. Most airlines (but not in Ghana) deliver delayed baggage to the passenger’s provided address, typically at no extra cost. This practice aligns with common industry standards and customer service expectations.”
“If a passenger’s baggage is delayed, he/she may be entitled to compensation for essential items he/she needs to purchase while waiting for their luggage as happened to me in Birmingham, UK. This is regulated by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) Montreal Convention, which sets the rules for international air travel, including baggage delays,” he added.
To him, it is time for Ghanaians to rise and demand fair and better treatment from these airlines as they do for other countries in which they operate. According to him, Ghana already has the systems and infrastructure to ensure that delayed bags are returned to the address of passengers without any difficulty.
He is again calling for the domestication of the Montreal Convention on delayed bags in Ghana’s consumer protection laws adding that the passage of the National Consumer Protection Act will be a bold step in ensuring that airlines offer the same services to customers to the UK, UK, EU, etc. “Asking airlines in Ghana to deliver delayed bags to passengers’ addresses is not too much to ask from airlines in Ghana. If it is done in other jurisdictions, it means it can be done here in Ghana. Courier companies in Ghana are able to deliver packages and letters across the country overnight. Ghana Post GPS has made it easy to locate every address in the country. GCAA must domesticate the Montreal Convention protocol on delayed bags and mandate the airlines to offer the same level of services it offers to passengers from the US, UK, EU, Canada, and the rest,” the CUTS International boss indicated.
