Theft from luggage

My client Robby Borg of Britishjet.com has instructed me to reply to the letter by Christopher Holmes regarding the alleged theft from his luggage.

While Britishjet.com regrets what happened to Mr Holmes, the regulations say that no valuables are to be placed in the luggage and that theft or damage to luggage has to be reported before leaving the airport.

Contrary to what Mr Holmes has stated and notwithstanding that the company is not responsible for the alleged theft, Britishjet.com has taken Mr Holmes's complaint seriously and forwarded it to the Malta International Airport who is responsible for the security of the luggage and to whom Britishjet.com pays hundreds of thousands of liri for this service every year.

On a personal note, may I add that I also had my jewellery stolen from my luggage on Air Malta flight KM612 Malta-Rome on December 31, 2005 and the reply I got from Malta was that the luggage is no place for jewellery. When on January 10, 2006 I again wrote to them telling them that this does not authorise their luggage people to steal and to therefore take disciplinary action against those on duty, I have to date received no reaction.

This shows that if the MIA told Mr Holmes that there was no chance that the theft could occur there because of the security cameras they use, then the MIA is either not saying the truth or it has weak security or is failing to take action against those responsible.

My client agrees that luggage theft has become a serious headache at Malta International Airport for all airlines and is doing everything within its power to curb this abuse.

In addition, in Malta we only have two handling agents, Air Malta and Servisair, and the airlines in Malta have no choice or control whatsoever in the handling of luggage. Suffice it to say that Britishjet.com pays its handling agent Servisair in Malta three times as much as it pays in certain airports in the UK.

While thanking Mr Holmes for acknowledging that Britishjet.com is a company of low fares, the lower standard that he claims cannot be attributed to Britishjet.com but to who is responsible for the security of the luggage at the airport.