More than one million pieces of luggage were irretrievably lost in 2007, according to the airline watchdog, the Air Transport Users Council (AUC).

Airlines mishandled 42 million bags worldwide in 2007, compared with 34 million in 2006 and 30 million in 2005. Of the 42 million mishandled in 2007, 1.2 million bags, or around one bag for every 2,000 passengers, were irretrievably lost.

On these occasions, passengers are entitled to up to around £1,000 in compensation, which is also payable on incidences of delayed and adamged baggage, however the AUC alleges that airlines "rarely pay anywhere near their maximum liability".

The organisation adds: "The Association of European Airlines says that, on average, 85 per cent of bags delayed by its airlines (mainly European network carriers) are reunited with their owners within 48 hours. That still leaves 15 per cent of bags being delayed by more than two days.

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"Complaints to the AUC suggest that even a one or two day delay can severely disrupt a trip - particularly if a passenger is planning to head off straight away from their arrival point and won’t want to wait to pick up their bag when it arrives."

The AUC said that a number of passengers has contacted it concerning Ryanair's stringent baggage policy: "For example, complaints to the AUC show that Ryanair often limits passengers to £15 whatever the length of the delay."

Likewise, the organisation claims that airlines are trying to arbitrarily limit their liability, citing Jet2's policy of refusing to reimburse passengers for claims under £30.

If the number of air passengers continues to increase at the current rate it will double in the next decade, according to the AUC, which means that by 2019 airlines could be mishandling as many as 70 million bags a year.

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