QANTAS has been forced to admit it lost track of an unaccompanied child passenger last month, leaving the 11-year-old boy to wander on his own late at night in a crowded airport.

Airline staff not only lost the paperwork relating to their young passenger, they failed to realise he was even in their care.

"They don't go missing very often," a Qantas staffer allegedly quipped. Credit:Peter Rae

The incident happened late on the evening of September 28 when the arrivals hall of Hobart Airport was in mayhem because storms in Melbourne had led to flight delays, passenger disruption and lost baggage.

The boy had been dropped off at Melbourne Airport by his uncle and passed into the care of Qantas cabin crew. In Hobart, he was to be met by his mother, Leanne Decleva.