Jetstar apologises to passenger who was left with no bag, no wedding dress for 11 days

Jetstar lost Tabitha Cooke's wedding dress for 11 days. Photo: Fiona Goodall/Getty Images

Jetstar took 11 days to find an Auckland woman's bag, with her wedding dress inside, after it was lost as she flew home from Christchurch.

The bag turned up today and had been sitting at Auckland Airport the whole time.

Tabitha Cooke was in Christchurch for two weeks doing a training course for work and during that time she found her dream wedding dress and snapped it up.

She checked in on November 27 to fly home and handed her suitcase containing the special garment to Jetstar staff at Christchurch Airport.

However when she got to Auckland the suitcase was nowhere to be seen - and it turned out it was nowhere to be found until today, after the Herald questioned the airline.

Ms Cooke said she was gutted when her bag did not come out on the luggage carousel.

Because her flight was delayed and landed at 11.30pm there were no Jetstar staff on hand to help her. So, she called their 0800 customer number.

She was put through to an overseas call centre and told her lost luggage would be logged and someone would be in touch.

"My whole life was in that bag pretty much," she said.

"I was just in limbo, waiting to see if it had been lost permanently."

Both Ms Cooke and her fiance rang the 0800 number repeatedly asking for updates but no one could help.

Customer services staff called her on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday last week to see if she had "heard from anyone at Jetstar" but after that, all contact stopped.

"Basically, I don't really know what else I can do," she told the Herald early this afternoon.

"I just want to know what's happening. I really cannot see how they can't find it."

The Herald contacted Jetstar at 12.52pm asking for comment around the missing suitcase.

At 5.25pm Ms Cooke contacted the Herald to say her bag had been found.

"They found my bag today, and I'm sure it's no coincidence (that) after you became involved it was found," said a thrilled Ms Cooke.

A Jetstar spokesman told the Herald Ms Cooke's bag was "located this afternoon at Auckland Airport".

"The bag arrived in Auckland the same day the passenger travelled and should have been matched with the lost baggage inquiry much earlier than today," he said.

"We sincerely apologise for the delay in locating and delivering the bag. We've arranged for immediate courier delivery and it should be with the customer early this evening."

He said Jetstar's customer care team would contact Ms Cooke to offer a further apology and arrange $100 in flight vouchers "in recognition of the delay and inconvenience".