A WHOPPING 42 million pieces of luggage went AWOL at airports last year - a lot more than in 2006.

According to a new report yesterday from SITA - an organisation that provides IT services including baggage handling to the air travel industry - this accounts for one bag lost and never found for every 2,000 travellers.

Airports around the world handled 2.25 billion bags last year.

SITA said the overall cost to carriers of mishandled baggage in 2007 was about US$90 (S$122) per piece for a total of US$3.8 billion (S$5.2 billion)

At a time when peanuts and pillows are considered luxuries, lost baggage is something cash-strapped airlines - just returning to profit after six years of global losses - cannot afford.

The main causes were congestion due to growing passenger numbers, tight aircraft turnaround times and increased security.

The report, issued at a conference in Amsterdam, came in the wake of the breakdown of the baggage-handling system at Heathrow's Terminal 5 that saw huge volumes of luggage piling up.

SITA said that most bags that went astray were delivered to their owners within 48 hours.

The statistics came from its automated tracing system for missing bags, which is used by about 400 airlines and ground-handling companies.

Meanwhile, there's more bad news for travellers using Heathrow's T5.

Some travel insurance policies have announced that they are not offering cover for baggage lost by customers flying out of the terminal.