Working with partner airlines and major airports, the taskforce is dedicated to examining and improving luggage issues at the UK’s most affected airports and recovering lost luggage for Loganair customers.

The airline’s staff have already visited the worst-hit hubs, worked through hundreds of bags in secure storage, and noted a marked reduction in disruption and complaints in recent days, which it expects to improve further over the coming weeks.

According to Loganair, most of the recent lost luggage issues have been caused by staffing and baggage system overloads at hub airports, as travel resurges following the pandemic.

Loganair has a strong track record of baggage handling and recovery, especially at Scotland’s Highlands and islands airports where it handles its own bags.

Loganair chief executive Jonathan Hinkles said: “Loganair flies lifeline routes and offers essential connectivity across the UK. With that in mind, we couldn’t sit back and watch airport disruption in recent weeks without getting stuck in to find solutions ourselves. Although we are the UK’s largest regional airline, we’re small enough to be able to do this and it’s important to us that we can support our customers in this way.

“Having been told that there were only three bags belonging to Loganair customers awaiting delivery at one airport, the physical search by our task force at that airport found over 100 more – and each and every one of those bags is now on its way back to its owner.”

The airline has also launched a new web page offering advice to customers to ensure bags are handled correctly in transit, after the taskforce found several bags had gone missing due to passengers failing to collect and recheck them for connecting flights.

For example, if connecting from an international flight to a Loganair domestic flight at Manchester, customers must collect their baggage and return to the bag drop desks once they have cleared customs. The guidance is available here.