A Dublin Airport employee, identified only as John, warned passengers about a very common mistake: putting bows, ribbons or other accessories on suitcase handles to make them easier to identify. According to the worker, cited by the Spanish portal 20minutos, these accessories can interfere with the automatic scanners used to process checked baggage.
When the automatic system cannot correctly read the baggage, the suitcase is sent for manual verification, which significantly increases the time needed before it goes onto the plane. In extreme cases, if the flight is close to departure, the baggage may not be loaded in time and end up at the departure airport while the passenger heads to the destination.
The employee also recommends removing all old tags and stickers from previous trips before checking in the suitcase again, as these elements can make it difficult to read current tags and create confusion in the routing systems that send baggage to the correct destination.
The risk of delays becomes particularly relevant during peak travel periods at airports, such as holiday seasons and public holidays, when baggage handling systems deal with thousands of suitcases in a short time. The recommendation is to keep luggage externally simple, choose suitcases with distinctive colors or features that don't interfere with the equipment, and carefully confirm your baggage when it appears on the collection belt.
