Complaints about airport theft

AIR Namibia and the airport authorities have been criticised for not ensuring the safety of travellers’ luggage.

Complaints about the safety of luggage mostly come from Hosea Kutako International Airport, Namibia’s busiest airport.The latest incident took place on Sunday, June 13, when a traveller flying to Lubango, Angola, found upon arrival at his destination that his luggage had been tampered with. Willow Addams wrote to three Namibia Airport Company officials, one Air Namibia official and one Aviation Police official. Addams said he flew on the TAG DT flight to Lubango and was one of the first people to check in their luggage. The flight was delayed so they had to wait ‘quite some time’ at Hosea Kutako Airport, he wrote.He claimed that almost every passenger’s bags had been ‘cut, torn, or scratched in’.’It couldn’t have happened in Lubango,’ he said, because they collected their bags within minutes after disembarking.He claimed he lost belongings worth N$13 300.He said when he spoke to Lubango airport authorities, they referred him to their Namibian counterparts. Namibia Airports Company spokesperson Struggle Ihuhua said the safety of luggage was the responsibility of the airline in question. He referred all question to Air Namibia, since they deal with TAG passengers in Namibia.Air Namibia spokesperson Zandra Groeneveld said Air Namibia was investigating the complaint. She added that although such incidents happened, safety was the national airline’s main priority. Air Namibia received about four such complaints a month, she said.