Flyers worried about the risk of their luggage going missing before reaching their destination have been offered advice on how to minimise the problems caused by such an event.

According to the Association of Independent Tour Operators (AITO), holidaymakers travelling in a group might want to consider spreading some of their clothing among the other travellers in their party to ensure they have something available should their bags go missing.

If possible, it may be a good idea to use just hand luggage, but for those going on a long holiday it would be best to clearly label all bags and take out comprehensive travel insurance, AITO spokesman Ian Bradley explained.

"With airlines, they're not particularly generous when it comes to compensating people when their bag gets lost," he commented.

"But travel insurance can be better in terms of looking after you financially if something happens."

The comments came after it was estimated that some 28,000 bags were affected by the recent problems at Heathrow Terminal 5.

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