Until when will the problem of waiting for luggage at Kuwait International Airport persist? Since last year, passengers arriving at Kuwait airport have to wait for long periods that sometimes reachs three hours during the busy summer travel season to collect their luggage. The airport has always been crowded, but passengers never waited for such a long time.

On complaining to the civil aviation, it said transferring luggage from the plane to the airport is the responsibility of a private company. But the private firm said that the customs department is the reason for the delay, as it has implemented a longer procedure for checking the luggage before it reaches the baggage carousel. On contacting the customs department, it said that the new inspection process is not delaying the arrival of luggage, as it's not manual. It explained that the luggage only passes through a machine on a belt, which does not cause any delay. The staff at the customs noted that other problems like a shortage of employees may be causing the delay.

Last year, the new Terminal 4 was launched and is currently handling all flights of Kuwait Airways except the New York route. But transferring all these flights there didn't bring any relief to the old terminal. Even now, when it's not the high season yet, passengers are still suffering from delays to collect their luggage. After a recent flight, passengers had to wait for more than an hour for their luggage, although the plane was not completely full.

The fact is that everyone is pointing the blame at someone else but at the end of the day it's the passengers who suffer. We are all stuck waiting endlessly and I won't even discuss how bad it might be this coming summer. Something should be done and quick to set realistic time requirements for the delivery of luggage to traveling passengers. Inspections should be conducted and time limits set for all parties involved and they should be either required to meet these requirements or face fines.

The authorities in charge should do something to resolve this issue. This great inconvenience is spoiling the reputation of Kuwait's airport among tourists. For residents, it kills the happiness and satisfaction of the entire travel experience after returning to Kuwait. So please do something to fix this problem.

By Nawara Fattahova

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