Damaged or delayed baggage

Delayed baggage

We sincerely apologise for the delay in the delivery of your baggage. We are doing everything in our power to locate it and return it to you as soon as possible. You will find all the information regarding the next steps that have to be taken in order to retrieve your baggage as quickly as possible below.

Report the absence of your baggage to us

In the unfortunate situation where your baggage is not delivered on the belt upon arrival, you can choose one of these 2 options:

  1. Report your missing baggage immediately at the Brussels Airlines desk in the baggage reclaim area (or to our Lost&Found office at the airport). You can find the details of our offices here. This will allow us to open an official file and start tracing your baggage immediately. You will receive a unique reference number (for example BRUSN12345) which we will use to trace your baggage as quickly and as efficiently as possible. The more information you can give us about your baggage – the colour, model, brand, unique identification marks, etc. – the better.
  2. Report it online* via www.lufthansa.com/delayed-baggage within 24 hours of your actual flight arrival time (English and German only.)

* If you have already reported your baggage as delayed at the airport, there is no need to do this online again.

Check the progress of the tracing process

We locate most baggage within 24 hours. This is done through World Tracer, which is a high-performing world-wide baggage tracing system. Once your baggage has been located, we will contact you to arrange the delivery.
If you have filed a report and have a unique reference number, you can check the status of your file here.

Extensive content-based tracing process after 5 days

Should we not have been able to locate your baggage within 5 days, we will start an extensive tracing process based on the content of your baggage. This extended tracing process has enabled us to reunite most delayed baggage with their rightful owners. In order to initiate this process, please fill in the baggage inventory form and forward it as soon as possible to our Central Baggage Tracing Department via e-mail.

Download the inventory form here (please save the file on your computer before editing it).

Compensation of interim expenses

Should you have encountered direct expenses as a result of the delay of your baggage, once your baggage has been located, you can send a claim to our Customer Relations Department for evaluation. As per our General Conditions, this claim has to reach us within 21 days after the delivery date of your baggage.

If your baggage cannot be located

In the unfortunate event that we are not able to locate your baggage after 21 days of extensive tracing, your file will be followed up by our Customer Relations Department. If you have not sent in a claim yet, you can do so here. In order for us to adequately evaluate your claim, please include invoices, bank statements, purchase receipts, etc., to prove the value of your mishandled baggage.


 

Damaged suitcase

If your baggage got damaged and you have reported this at the airport, you can just take it to our baggage repair partner who will fix it and send us the bill. If you are living in one of the following countries you can contact our contracted repairshop Dolfi who will take care of your bag on our behalf:

If you did not report the damage to your baggage at the airport, you will have to send us a written complaint must be made within 7 days from receipt of the damaged bag. Please enclose copies of your ticket or boarding card, luggage label and repair costs together with this report. If the luggage cannot be repaired, we need confirmation from the repair shop stating the value of the damaged luggage and its date of purchase + purchase invoice and a picture of the damaged bag. Click here to fill in the damaged bag form.


Items missing

If some items are missing from your hand baggage, remember that a carrier cannot be held liable for damage (including pilferage) to luggage not entrusted to the carrier.

If some items are missing from your registered bag, it is mandatory to declare the loss before leaving the airport otherwise we cannot take any liability. Kindly note that we can never take any liability for fragile or perishable items, food, statutes and art items, money, keys, jewellery, precious metals, computers, camera’s, medication, mobile phones, personal electronic devices, negotiable papers, securities or other valuables, business documents, passports and other identification documents or samples, etc… in your registered baggage.
Please send us a claim via the Items missing form and provide us with the following documents within 7 days from receipt of luggage:

  • a valorised list of the items missing together with year of purchase (invoices, bank statements, etc)
  • copy of your ticket
  • baggage label
  • reference number of the file made up at the airport

Cabin incidents

If you clothes are stained or damaged during the flight due to an action of your staff, you can send us a claim by using the cabin incidents claim form.
For clothes stained by liquids, please also provide us with:
  • a copy of your ticket
  • the dry-cleaning invoice
  • the report made up on board by our cabin crew
For clothes damaged on board, please also provide us with:
  • a copy of your ticket
  • the repair invoice. If damaged beyond repair, please send us the original purchase receipt
  • the report made up on board by our cabin crew