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Where does hold luggage go on a plane? From check-in to the belt
Hold luggage travels in the cargo hold under the cabin. What happens to your bag between the check-in desk and the baggage belt, and how to protect it.
Hold luggage goes in the cargo hold, the compartment under the cabin floor. It is loaded through hatches on the side of the aircraft after you check it in, and unloaded onto the baggage belt after you land. On the way it passes through security scanning, a sorting system and a loading team, which is why the journey from desk to belt can take a bag a long way from where you are sitting.
Step by step: from check-in to the belt
- Check-in or bag drop. The bag is weighed, a tag with a barcode is looped through the handle and a receipt is stuck to your boarding pass. Keep that receipt: it is how a lost bag is traced.
- Security screening. Every hold bag is X-rayed out of sight. If something looks wrong it is opened, and you may find a notice inside saying so.
- Sorting. Scanners read the tag and conveyor belts route the bag to the right flight. At a big airport this system is several kilometres long.
- Loading. On short haul planes like the ones Ryanair, easyJet and Jet2 fly, bags are loaded by hand, one at a time, into the forward and aft holds. On wide body long haul planes they go into metal containers that are lifted in whole.
- The flight. The hold is pressurised like the cabin and kept above freezing. Bags do not get cold enough to freeze or wet unless the apron is in the rain while they are loaded.
- Unloading and the belt. Bags come off in the reverse order and onto the belt in the arrivals hall. Priority bags are loaded last so they come off first.
Why bags get lost, and how rarely
Most bags that go missing are late, not lost: they missed a tight connection or a scanner could not read a tag with an old label stuck next to it. Airlines mishandle fewer than one bag in a hundred, and most of those are back with their owners within a few days. The things that raise your odds of a problem are a short connection, an old tag left on the handle, a bag that looks like a thousand others on the belt and a zip that bursts in the system.
How to protect a hold bag
- Put a label with your name, phone number and email inside the bag as well as on the handle.
- Peel off old tags before you check in.
- Take a photo of the packed bag at the airport. It helps a claim and helps the airline find it.
- Use a case that can take a drop from belt height. Hard shells and soft shells both can; the weak point on any case is the wheels, which is why we stock replacement wheels for most of our own models.
- Fit a luggage strap. It holds the case shut if the zip fails, and a red one makes a black case easy to spot.
- Keep medicines, documents, chargers, cash and anything with a lithium battery in your hand luggage.
- Lock it. A combination lock stops a zip creeping open; for flights to the United States use a TSA approved lock so security can open it without cutting it.
Does hold luggage go under the plane?
Yes. The hold is directly under the passenger cabin, running most of the length of the fuselage, split into a forward hold and an aft hold with a bulk area at the back for loose items and animals. You are sitting on top of your suitcase for the whole flight, a metre or so below your feet.
Questions people ask
Where does hold luggage go on a plane?
In the cargo hold under the cabin floor. Short haul aircraft have a forward and an aft hold loaded by hand; long haul aircraft use containers loaded by machine.
Is the hold pressurised and heated?
Yes. The hold is pressurised with the cabin and kept above freezing, which is why pets can travel there. Bags are not exposed to the outside air during the flight.
What happens to hold luggage after check-in?
It is X-rayed, sorted by the barcode on its tag, loaded into the hold, flown, unloaded and put on the belt. On a connection it is transferred between aircraft without you seeing it.
Do priority bags come out first?
Usually. Bags tagged priority are loaded last and so come off first. It is not guaranteed, because the loading team may not keep them separate on a full flight.
What is the hold on a plane?
The hold is the cargo compartment below the passenger cabin. It carries checked bags, freight, mail and sometimes animals, and it is sealed from the cabin during the flight.