If your checked bag is missing at the end of a connecting trip, report it to the last airline that actually carried you, with your baggage tag in hand. Korean Air’s delayed-baggage guide directs passengers on multi-airline journeys to that carrier. The airline printed on the ticket or the one that first checked the bag may be different.
At Incheon Airport, ask at the baggage-service counter behind the arrival carousel before leaving. The airport’s baggage guide routes checked-bag problems to the airline; its terminal Lost and Found Office handles items lost in airport public areas, not the tracing record for a checked suitcase.
Get a delay report tied to your bag tag
Show the last carrier’s baggage staff the tag receipt, flight details and your destination contact information. If Korean Air operated your final flight, its delay page links to a report form and a way to check a reported bag’s status. Ask for the report reference and the carrier’s way to follow up. Save a photo of the tag and the report details in case you leave the airport before the bag is located.
Korean Air instructs you to notify its staff as soon as the delay is discovered. A baggage-tracking screen or an assurance that the bag is on its way is not a substitute for knowing whether a delay report was opened.
Before leaving, confirm the delivery address and how the airline will reach you. Give the dates you will stay at that address; a hotel for tonight may be the wrong delivery destination tomorrow. If you do not have a working local number, explain that now and agree on a contact method the carrier can use. Arrange your onward airport journey after recording those details; a courier or luggage-storage booking does not open an airline tracing case.
If you have already left the airport, use the airline’s baggage report route or contact the last operating airline with the bag-tag number and flight details. If you cannot receive a Korean SMS or access the online form, ask the airline through its published service-center channel how to file or locate the report and how it will contact you. Do not create a second report blindly if staff already gave you a reference.
If the bag arrives damaged, make a separate report
Delivery closes the missing-bag question, but it does not settle damage. Photograph the suitcase and its contents as received, list anything missing, keep the baggage tag and delivery or report reference, and follow the last carrier’s damage route. Korean Air’s damaged-baggage page says damage or items missing from a bag must be reported within seven days of receiving it. It also directs multi-airline passengers to the last carrier.
The airline decides the outcome under its policy; a delay report, a damage report and compensation are separate matters. If the final flight was operated by another airline, use that airline’s reporting instructions and deadlines. Keep the original tag and both report references until the carrier confirms each issue is closed.
Last checked: September 27, 2026.