Zero Luggage Lost In 30 Years: Japan's Kansai International Airport Wins Award (image@Pixabay)The Kansai International Airport (KIX) of Japan is celebrating a milestone. It won the Skytrax award for the World’s Best Airport for Baggage Delivery in 2024. The award was in due recognition for the airport as it has never let a baggage lost in the past 30 years.
A press release from the airport said that they believe the record of having no baggage lost since the opening of the airport was because of the daily efforts of everyone involved, including the airlines and handling companies. The award was based on the evaluation of wait time for the baggage pickup, efficiency of the baggage delivery and response to the lost baggage, said the press release. The airport has received the award eight times.
The Kansai Airport of Japan’s Osaka was inaugurated in 1994. The airport so far has served 20 million to 30 million passengers annually. During the 2023 fiscal year, the airport has handled over 10 million baggage items, as reported by Nikkei Asia, a news organization. The passenger transit information, and the two or three staffers appointed to assess the types and number of bags for each plane, constitute to the clean track record of the airport.
Tsuyoshi Habuta, who supervises the baggage operations at the airport, said: “It’s important for multiple staff members to share information to prevent mistakes arising from erroneous assumptions”, Nikkei Asia reports.
It is reported that the airport has a manual that outlines the rules specific to each airline that is updated regularly to incorporate staff suggestions based on their experience. However, the airport staff does not believe that they are doing anything remarkable. Talking to CNN, Kenji Takanishi, a public relation officer at Kansai said that, “we have been working as we normally do. We only do our work on a daily basis and we are recognized for it”.
The Kansai International airport is built on an artificial island in Osaka Bay. It is ranked as the 18th best airport in the world overall.