Batanes tourists complain of airline policy on baggage

BASCO, Batanes, Philippines – Hundreds of tourists coming for the holidays have been crying foul as their luggages are not accommodated on their flights due to “space limitations” by their airline carrier.

Most vacationers are already returning to Manila still without their luggages. Adding to their misery is the absence of malls where they could purchase clothes and pasalubong.

Some are returning overseas contract workers who are coming for the holidays to be with their loved ones. Their boxes of pasalubong are knowhere in sight, to arrive while they are here with their relatives.

Most complaining passengers ask why their 10 kilograms of allowable free baggages are bumped off.

While most passengers are alerted in Manila that only 10 kilograms of their checked-in luggages will be accommodated on their flight, their excess baggages would be taken in the next flight. However, upon arrival at the airport here, their vacation turned into a nightmare when they found out that only their hand-carried items of toilet articles are available.

One complaining passenger said, she and her family of six arrived on Dec. 21, with one checked-in baggage each. They were coming after 20 years of absence to visit their aging parents. None of the baggages arrived.

After traveling everyday to the airport, 14 kilometers away, and hiring a van every time, this passenger could no longer hold her temper.

Three days after, she took to task the airline manager.

On Christmas, three of the luggages were delivered to them in their hometown. The other two boxes, have not arrived as of press time, and they are returning on Jan. 2.

– Jack Castaño

South East Asian Airline (Seair) justifies the perennial problem of too many passengers as the reason for the non-accommodation of cargoes. This means, its Manila office accepts all passengers without providing allowance for the passengers’ baggages.

The airline operates a daily flight to this northern destination, using a 32-seat capacity Dornier 328 aircraft.