Airport lost and found procedure: from the find to the return
This airport lost and found procedure covers what a terminal lost and found desk does with each item, in the order the work happens, with examples quoted from airports’ own published rules.
Airports split the work: the airport usually holds items found in the terminal and car parks, the security screening authority holds items left at the checkpoint, and each airline holds items left on its aircraft. Write down which desk holds what before an item arrives.
Updated
The procedure, step by step
Agree who holds what
Write down which items your desk takes, and send people to the screening authority for items left at security and to the airline for items left on board.
For example, Colorado Springs Airport:
Please Note, TSA is only required to hold items for 30 days and only hold items left at the TSA Security Checkpoint.
City of Colorado SpringsLog each item the day it arrives
Give each item a reference and record the date, the time, where it was found and who found it, with a general description and a photo.
Store it where the log says
Put each item on a labelled shelf or in a numbered bin and record the location, with a locked store for wallets, phones, laptops and jewellery.
Handle documents and cards apart
Follow your written rule for passports, identity cards and bank cards, which often go back to the issuer or are destroyed sooner than other items.
For example, Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport:
ID's and/or Driver's Licenses will be mailed to the address on the ID after 7 days.
Louis Armstrong New Orleans International AirportMatch reports against the log
Compare each lost report with what you hold, and contact the reporter when an item looks like a match.
Check ownership before release
Ask for details only the owner would know and for identification at collection, and record who released the item, to whom and when.
Hold for your published period
Keep each item for the period your policy states and publish that period, so travellers know how long they have.
For example, Toronto Pearson International Airport:
All found items are kept for 30 days from the date they are turned in.
Toronto Pearson International AirportDispose of it as your policy says
At the end of the period, donate, auction, recycle or destroy the item as your policy says, wipe or destroy devices holding personal data, and record each disposal.
For example, Frankfurt Airport:
The found items are kept for 3 months and then auctioned or disposed of.
Fraport
Where the holding period comes from
Airports set their own periods, and some follow a local law. Our holding periods data lists the periods airports publish on their own pages, with the words that support each one.
Frequently asked questions
Who handles items left at airport security?+
At some airports the security screening authority holds items left at the checkpoint, as Colorado Springs Airport’s page says, and the airport holds items found elsewhere in the terminal. Write down which desk holds what, and say so on your own lost and found page.
What should an airport do with an unclaimed passport?+
Follow the rule of the authority that issued it and your own written policy. Some operators publish that they send passports to the issuing authority instead of holding them; the Toronto Transit Commission, for one, sends Canadian passports to Passport Canada at once.
How long should an airport keep found items?+
As long as your policy and any local law say. The holding periods data on this site lists the periods airports publish, with the median and the middle half for the airports in the table.
Run the procedure in one place
vFound Lost & Found takes each found item from photo to shelf to claim to return, with every step recorded, on your site’s own lost and found page.
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