The Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh (CAAB) and airline authorities have emphasised that claimed missing items from the baggage of outpass returnees arriving from Saudi Arabia are the result of consolidation and handling procedures abroad, rather than airport staff or airline wrongdoing in Dhaka.
According to a CAAB media statement issued on Friday, 78 Bangladeshi nationals returned to Dhaka on November 14th aboard Ethiopian Airlines after being repatriated by Saudi immigration authorities via Addis Abeba.
After completing immigration and official processes at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport, travellers got their luggage from Arrival Belt No. 1, where they discovered numerous bags cut open and the contents gone, resulting in a conflict with airline staff.
CAAB stated that the impacted passengers were detained in Saudi Arabia for a variety of reasons, and their items were handled through Saudi immigration procedures.
Airline personnel warned CAAB that similar instances had occurred previously. They stated that outbound passengers’ luggage is often merged into a bulk consignment weighing an average of 15 kg per person, making it impossible to determine which goods belong to which individual.
They further stated that Saudi immigration officers frequently confiscate passengers’ goods during processing, but no inventory reports of the seized items are provided to the airline.
Such elements, they added, cause confusion and allegations when the consolidated baggage arrives in Dhaka.
CAAB further reported that with Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport’s baggage-handling facilities now fully CCTV monitored, occurrences of baggage theft among arriving passengers had considerably decreased.
However, the regulator stated that theft-related complaints are most commonly associated with out-of-service passengers.
CAAB stated that the lost things appear to have been taken while the travellers were still in Saudi Arabia, most likely by an agency or individual handling their possessions.
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