A mum from regional Queensland is desperately trying to track down a bag containing valuable items, after it was misplaced by Virgin Australia.

When Ava Downs departed Launceston airport with her then 10-month-old daughter on the 12th of July, she didn’t plan for the stress that would follow that afternoon and into the following weeks.

The pair had a long trip ahead of them after spending the previous fortnight in the riverside city visiting Ava’s family.

To get back to their regional Queensland home in Ayr, Ava and her young daughter Emily had to catch three multi-city flights which they booked with the same airline.

At 6.30am, the pair boarded Virgin flight VA1361, bound for Melbourne. Ava had packed one bag for both of them as it was easier to carry around.

After the one-hour journey, they had to catch a second flight to Sydney, VA819, and then a third to Townsville, VA1519.

While all three flights went off without a hitch, Ava was unaware that at some stage in the journey her checked baggage went on a trip of its own.

After waiting at airports and flying for just over seven hours, Ava was relieved to land in Townsville, but that feeling quickly faded when she realised her luggage wasn’t on the baggage carousel.

“I had to wait around for 40 minutes in the Townsville Airport to talk to someone … even though there were no lines,” Ava told news.com.au.

“All while my mother-in-law, who picked us up, tried to entertain my hungry and tired baby.”

The missing bag contained clothes, including new items which she purchased on her trip, toys and books for Ava’s baby.

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As it is coming up to her daughter’s first birthday, the bag also contained unopened gifts, Emily’s birth bracelet and a brooch with her name engraved on it.

Ava had also packed an expensive pair of runners, make-up, pricey prescription face cleansers and an electric toothbrush among other items for herself.

“We have basically come home without any clothes to wear for the cooler weather and none of my baby girl’s belongings, apart from a couple things I packed on our carry on,” Ava said.

“As any parent would know, it’s expensive to buy baby clothes and to lose sentimental pieces like her birth gifts, books and toys is heartbreaking.”

The stress of losing almost $2000 worth of items was extra pressure on top of Ava finding out that her husband was admitted to hospital while she was away. He has since been discharged but is unable to work.

“He is on medication for three months but has to take it easy as he has myopericarditis,” she said. “Not knowing whether we need to buy everything again, while we have no income until further notice as my husband is recovering, is another stress we didn’t need.”

Since July 12, Ava has attempted to make contact with Virgin on several occasions.

At one stage, she received an email stating her bag had been delivered to her Ayr home, however this was not the case, forcing Ava to make the one-hour trip from her home to the airport to talk to a staff member in person.

“I went to the Townsville airport where the Virgin worker told me they hadn’t received any luggage in my name to send,” Ava said.

“I contacted Virgin about this, only for them to respond with ‘we have escalated this to the baggage team’ and no explanation has been given yet.”

Ava said what disappoints her the most is that she was reassured by Virgin staff in Launceston that her baggage would be sent “out right” to Townsville.

“Now look at where we are,” she said. “The communication part has been the worst, it just goes around in circles.

“They don’t answer their calls or they don’t return them when you leave a message. It takes days for them to respond to emails just to say they don’t know what’s happened to my luggage.”

Ava joins a soaring number of passengers who have lost their luggage between airports as the mishandled baggage rate between airlines increases.

News.com.au contacted Virgin for comment and it sincerely apologised for mishandling Ava’s luggage.

“The guest filed a missing luggage report when they arrived in Townsville. Virgin Australia then phoned the guest the same day, 12 July, to provide an update and left a voicemail,” a Virgin Australia spokesperson told news.com.au.

“We will continue to work to locate the missing baggage and keep the guest informed of the progress. Again, Virgin Australia sincerely apologises for any inconvenience caused by delayed luggage.”

While the airline is working with Ava to locate the missing bag, the mother-of-one ultimately wants the ordeal to be solved.

“We are stressed and just want our baby girl’s things back, ” she said.

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