Report: Airlines Lose 40 Million Bags

LONDON – A British consumer air travel group says airlines across the world are losing more bags as passenger numbers rise.

Britain's Air Transport Users Council said Tuesday that more than 40 million bags were misplaced by airlines in 2007. Of those more than 1 million pieces of luggage were irretrievably lost.

The council said in a report that the annual number of mishandled bags was rising and could be as high as 70 million by 2019.