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With more than 50,000 travellers passing through daily, it’s no surprise that countless items are left behind at Auckland Airport’s terminals. But what happens to lost property that - despite best efforts - fails to be reunited with its owner?

Several shelves, each labelled by a month, were full of bags. One contained a children’s soft toy and different kinds of hats. On the floor was a row of prams.

These were some of the unclaimed items kept in Auckland Airport’s lost property, as revealed today in a new behind-the-scenes video showcasing how the airport manages lost property.

Around 9000kg worth of unclaimed goods are repurposed and delivered to new homes every year through ME Family Services (Mefs), a government social service organisation, the airport said.

“At Auckland Airport, we have a team who work hard to reconnect lost property with customers,” said Auckland Airport chief operations officer Chloe Surridge.

“However, there are times when we can’t match items left behind in our terminals with owners, so it’s great to give them a useful second life in our local community.”

Auckland Airport’s chief operations officer Chloe Surridge. Photo / NZ Herald

Surridge said that Mefs does an “amazing job” organising the goods, which involves washing or sanitising the items and matching them with new owners.

“There are toys, shoes, clothes, homewares – even the empty suitcases themselves once all the goods have been cleared out – all high-quality items which can continue being useful for someone new.“

It’s also a more sustainable move for the airport. “We don’t want to see these items ending up in landfill or gathering dust at the terminal, it’s so much better they are re-homed for good,” Surridge added.

“As a business, we are working towards a target of reducing waste to landfill by 20% by 2030 compared to 2019. We’re currently tracking to 15% below 2019.”

More than 200 prams were left behind at Auckland Airport last financial year - making it the most frequently forgotten item, along with clothing. All of it was donated to Mefs, which started working with the airport on a small scale 8 years ago and now supports around 800 families yearly.

Unclaimed lost property collected from the terminals is mainly used to stock the airport’s resource room onsite in Māngere, which acts like a shop, but all goods are free for those in need.

According to Mefs chief executive Carole Tana-Tepania, repurposing lost property items from the airport has helped create a safe space for those in need of essential items.

“It’s all about giving back and it’s so fulfilling. We see families walking away with bags full of items they need and could otherwise not afford,” she said.

Carole Tana-Tepania, ME Family Services chief executive. Photo / Greg Bowker

“The most popular items people tend to need are children’s clothes, baby gear and often equipment for extra curricular activities – like sports or school camps. Also, warm gear for winter is very popular and any books we receive get collected quickly – we’ve had 50 books from the airport go in a single day."

In what Tana-Tepania calls a “whole community approach”, volunteers also help out with lost property pick ups in exchange for donated goods.

“We’re even seeing people bring their past donated goods back to us because they’ve outgrown them but they are still good quality. They’ll recycle them again and then walk away with new items,” said Tana-Tepania.

“We work hard to match up the right items with the right whanau. We recently had a mum walking her four children everywhere. We sorted two prams for her, making sure they were the right size.

“There was one for her to push and one for her older child to push, so she can get everyone to school and daycare more easily.”

Mefs supports children, families and individuals in Māngere and Ōtāhuhu in Auckland and works with local schools and organisations ranging from housing and health providers to women’s refuge and migrant and refugee communities.

Some of the donated items in FY24

• Bags
• Beds, bedding and mattresses (from the airport hotels)
• Blankets
• Books
• Car parts such as shock absorbers
• Car seats
• Chilly bin
• Clothes
• Crutches
• Guitar
• Hats
• Highchair
• Pillows
• Prams
• Shoes
• Skateboards
• Sleeping bags
• Shows
• Snow boards
• Surf boards
• Speakers
• Sports equipment (including tennis rackets)
• Suitcases
• Toys
• Umbrellas
• Walkers and walking sticks
• Wheelchairs

Lost something at Auckland Airport? Here’s what you should do

If you lose something at Auckland Airport, it usually ends up at the lost property offices located in the international terminal by Door 1, regardless of which terminal you initially lost the item in.

The airport recommends that customers contact the lost property team by phone or email as soon as possible.

Any found goods will be held between one to three months (depending on the item) before they are re-homed through Mefs.

If items are left behind on the aircraft or luggage is mishandled, the process is slightly different. In this case, the airport said that customers should contact their airline as soon as possible.