Hong Kong airport apologises after staff filmed throwing luggage

It doesn't matter if you've pasted a fragile sticker on your luggage, it seems.

Some baggage handlers at Hong Kong international airport will still throw your suitcases and cardboard boxes while unloading them from a plane.

A video clip of Hong Kong Airport Services (HAS) staff flinging travellers' luggage into a cart has angered many netizens after it was shared on Facebook by Marcela Fernanda Solis Walker.

It has garnered nearly five million views since it was posted on Sept 27. "This (is) the way that our beloved luggage is treated!" Walker wrote.

[embed]https://www.facebook.com/marcela.f.walker/videos/10156681286653637/[/embed]

She said the clip was filmed while she was alighting a Cathay Pacific flight from Xiamen, China, to Hong Kong.

After the video clip went viral online, Walker told South China Morning Post: "I don't have any intention to make any trouble for the workers. I only wanted other people to be aware of the situation."

This level of service is unexpected since Hong Kong international airport started to charge travellers a fee for unloading luggage from planes onto conveyor belts in July.

HAS has since made a public apology, and said that it had taken up the matter with the outsourced supplier involved in the incident.

A statement read: "HAS takes the handling of passengers' property seriously and we expect the same commitment from all of our suppliers."

The rough handling of luggage, however, is not an isolated case. In March, two AirAsia ground staff were filmed throwing baggage containing bicycle parts onto the ground, damaging a passenger's beloved ride. 

ALSO READ: AirAsia baggage handlers 'shower' check-in items with smooches

Perhaps they could take a leaf out of Japanese ground handlers' books, after they were praised for unloading luggage with utmost care.

minlee@sph.com.sg