MAS ordered to pay damages for lost luggage

The magistrate's court here today ordered Malaysian Airlines System Berhad (MAS) to pay RM9,675 to a passenger for lost luggage from the baggage claim area of the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA), Sepang, four years ago.

Magistrate Sharifah Norazlita Syed Salim Idid made the decision after granting the application for compensation filed by a manager of an aviation company, Kang Guat Pheng, 51, from Kuantan, Pahang on May 30, 2007.

“After listening to statements from the witnesses and submissions from both parties, the court decided to grant the plaintiff (Kang) the compensation as filed in the application.

“The court also orders the defendant (MAS) to pay the cost and interest of eight per cent per annum on the plaintiff’s claim, beginning from the date of judgment to the date of settlement,” said Sharifah Norazlita.

During the trial, Kang, represented by lawyer Zaidi Abdul Hamid, called two witnesses, while MAS, represented by lawyer Hariharan Tara Singh, called three.

In her application, Kang said that she had boarded a MAS flight from Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam to KLIA with a 10kg luggage on Dec 26, 2006.

She claimed that upon arrival at the airport, her luggage was missing from the Baggage Claim area and that she suffered losses in terms of personal belongings and valuables worth RM9,675.

Kang said that due to the loss, she had faced problems and was still under duress even though a report was lodged at the MAS office on the day of the incident.

She had sought RM9,675 as compensation, interest of eight per cent per annum from Dec 26, 2006 to the date the case was fully settled, and other costs and relief deemed fit by the court.

MAS, in its defence earlier, alleged that Kang did not declare her valuables before boarding the flight.

The airline also said that it had offered US$300 (RM1,020) in compensation for the lost luggage but the plaintiff refused to accept the offer and decided to take the case to court.


comments

Congratulations Kang. Pity the 1000's of other "kangs" who silently  accepted their loses as fate. No wonder airlines are minting money.  Too many 'convenient fees" around. Time for a watchdog committee  to check into all these extras. What next, payment for blankets??

According to the Geneva convention and the governing tariffs, the liability for checked baggage without value declaration prior commencement of carriage, is limited to USD20.00 per kilogram.

Since the weight of the baggage in question was 10.0Kgs and this allowed a settlement of USD200.

Mas had augmented it's settlement offer to USD300.

The court has opened the flood gate for missing baggage claims to unlimited liability. They
have even allowed consequently loss.