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Airblue passenger claims costly baggage misplaced

DUBAI — A man who travelled from Dubai to Lahore on Airblue has recently claimed that the airline misplaced his baggage containing reading material worth Dh18,690, and in doing so, put his blossoming banking career at stake.

Haroon Riaz Scheikh, Credit Administration Analyst at Habib Bank Limited, said that he travelled on Airblue ED-411 to Lahore on March 25 for change of visa as well as to prepare for his Red Hat UK exams that are soon due.

“I had taken Red Hat CDs on loan from my company just to prepare for the exam. During my flight, I specifically requested for special baggage handling because it contained expensive material,” informed Scheikh.

He said that the lost material could reflect negatively on his career growth and could also put an end to his future promotions.

“The CDs had been taken from my bank and I had promised to return them once I finished the exam. I am now at a loss as to what action to take because I can see my career in jeopardy,” said the exasperated man.

He said that upon arrival at Lahore Airport, everybody travelling on the flight received their luggage except him.

“I contacted the airline staff at the airport and they told me that the 20kg bag would arrive on the next flight. But even though I visited the airport staff everyday for the 10 days that I stayed in Pakistan, there was no information about my luggage,” he said.

Scheikh also said that had also lodged a complaint with the airline’s contact centre via email, and he was informed that the matter was being looked into as both staff members from Dubai and Lahore were aware of the case.

“I am not worried for my clothes or other miscellaneous items that were stacked in the bag. My main concern are the valuable CDs that I have lost. For all this, I can only hold the airline responsible because my baggage was booked by Airblue,” he said.

Scheikh explained that the airline had offered him a compensation based on weight. “They offered me some $360 which amounts to Dh600-700 and does not equal the amount of the material that got lost,” he said.

Speaking to Khaleej Times, Syed Qurbe Irtiza, Country Manager, Airblue, Dubai said: “We are very sorry for the incident because it was not intentional.”

He quoted an email communication held between Scheikh and Omar Chaudhry, General Manager, Corporate Safety, Airblue saying: “You first wrote to us six days ago i.e. April 4, and efforts have since been redoubled to locate your luggage. I sympathise with the delay this has caused to your examination schedule: may I suggest, however, that in future you carry such important items with you in your hand baggage.” Irtiza also said that all efforts were being made to solve the issue at the earliest.