Summary
- Over 5,000 laptops were lost at Toronto Pearson Airport (YYZ) in 2023, making them essentially the most commonly misplaced item.
- Greater than half of the lost items eventually make their way back to their owners.
- Toronto Pearson Airport reminds passengers to contact their lost and located in case of lost items and warns against a scam involving fake fees for using their service.
Of all of the items lost at Toronto Pearson International Airport (YYZ), laptops ultimately proved to be essentially the most commonly misplaced. Today, the airport announced that over 5,000 laptops were lost by passengers throughout the course of 2023, amid over 27,000 items that were reported missing in total. Other lost items included over 2,000 tablets, over 1,500 cell phones, and 1,200 carry-on bags.
On account of space constraints, the airport is unable to store laptops for longer than a single month. Passengers are encouraged to contact Toronto Pearson’s lost and located within the event that they’ve misplaced an item in transit.
The item return process
In accordance with CTV News Toronto, the airport maintains a dedicated facility in Terminal 1 for the processing of all items which were lost. The office is open between 10:00 and 18:00 Monday through Friday and is positioned before the terminal’s security checkpoint. On this area, a unit of the Greater Toronto Airport Authority (GTAA) assembled exactly for this purpose, examines each individual object.
Photo: Toronto Pearson International Airport
Investigators try and locate any identifying information, whether that be a reputation, team ID, documentation, or boarding pass of some kind. Dedicated employees may also review any passenger requests for a lost item to be returned. Some items usually are not held by the office, including passports, neck pillows, or any perishables.
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In accordance with the power, greater than half of the lost items eventually made their way back to their owners. Laptops and other electronics that remain unclaimed stay within the airport’s lost and located for thirty days, after which period they are going to either be donated or salvaged, depending on their value. Some airports seek a unique home for passengers’ forsaken objects, similar to Pittsburgh International Airport (PIT), with auctions of its unclaimed items held annually.
While items are sometimes found everywhere in the airport, the GTAA’s Sean Davidson indicated in an announcement to BNN that essentially the most common location for passengers to inadvertently leave behind possessions was the safety checkpoint. Moreover, the GTAA collects lost items from check-in halls, passenger waiting areas, and parking lots.
Photo: Toronto Pearson International Airport
The airport has been quick to remind passengers that the GTAA is just chargeable for those items which can be lost within the terminal buildings or the parking lots. Those that misplace items onboard aircraft should contact their respective airline for assistance in locating their belongings, and if items are lost on public transit, passengers should reach out to the respective transit authority.
A dangerous scam
While breaking this news, the airport also dropped at light a recent scam involving the means of filing lost and located claims. Unfortunately, a fraudulent message has been reported that instructs passengers to pay a $40 non-refundable fee for using its lost and located service.
Nonetheless, Toronto Pearson has been quick to warn passengers each through the media and on its website that this message is a scam, and that the airport doesn’t charge fees for locating passengers’ lost property. The one costs related to the airport’s lost and located could be for the return shipping of identified items.