A study by a security packaging product firm has found that as many as one in ten Britons has been a victim of theft while in an airport.
The research, by www.Versapak.co.uk
Respondents were initially asked to reveal if they had ever been the victim of theft whilst visiting an airport, with 11pc of respondents confessing they had been. Furthermore, of the remaining individuals, 64pc stated that they personally knew a friend or family member who had been a victim of airport theft.
Of the respondents who had experienced airport theft first hand, the majority (42%) revealed that they had been distracted (by children, partners, arrival/departure boards) whilst 36% confessed the theft occurred whilst they were asleep at the boarding gate or departure lounges. A further 12% admitted the theft happened whilst they were going to the toilet or making purchases in airport shops. Interestingly, less than half (47%) reported the theft of their belonging(s) to airport staff, with just 18% of these successfully managing to retrieve the lost item or find out exactly what happened to it.
Those polled found the most likely items to be stolen from hand luggage whilst at an airport were:
1. Mobile phone- (19%)
2. Money- (16%)
3. Passports-(11%)
4. Jewellery- (6%)
5. iPads/Tablet Devices- (4%)
Of the relevant respondents, only 12 per cent had experienced the theft at UK-based airport, with the remaining 88pc of thefts occurring in foreign airports. The most prevalent countries mentioned within the research were revealed as follows:
1. Turkey- (19%)
2. Egypt- (17%)
3. France- (12%)
4. America- (9%)
5. Greece- (6%)
Leon Edwards, Group Managing Director of Versapak, said: “When you are at an airport, there are certain circumstances that can have an adverse effect on how aware of personal belongings you are. A family going on holiday with small children could be preoccupied making sure everyone is in the vicinity, whilst a professional worker on a business trip may be suffering terribly from jetlag and fall asleep with their bags unattended. I have also noticed at airports that a lot of the time, passengers take somewhat of a lacklustre approach towards their personal security. Much of the time, bags are kept on the airport floor and unfastened, meaning valuable goods are on show to everyone, including potential thieves.”
