Lufthansa and Virgin Atlantic have activated the ‘Share Item Location’ functionality within Apple’s ‘Find My’ service to help track lost luggage with an AirTag hidden inside.
Initially announced late last year, Apple has been working with major international airlines to make AirTags more useful by embedding the location feature within their luggage tracking systems to trace misplaced bags and return them to their owners.
Passengers have been using Apple AirTags for several years as a way to keep tabs on their luggage and make sure it has made it to their intended destination, but until now, airlines very rarely acted on location information provided by passengers.
In order to overcome this stumbling block, Apple has created a secure ‘Share Item Location’ feature that allows iPhone users to share the location of their AirTags or other Bluetooth-enabled Apple devices through the Find My app.
In the rare instance where a passenger finds themselves standing alone at the baggage carousel after everyone has collected their luggage, they’ll be able to complete a lost luggage report, including a ‘Share Item Location’ link so that airline representatives can track the location of their luggage.
Around 18 airlines have already said they’ll support the Share Item Location feature, although it might take some time for all of these carriers to actually embed this technology until their baggage tracing systems.
On Tuesday, Germany’s Lufthansa Group said it had enabled the functionality, and a day later, Virgin Atlantic announced that it had also successfully enabled ‘Share Item Location’ into its IT systems.
“We know many people already use AirTags or a Find My network accessory to keep updated on the location of their luggage,” commented Virgin Atlantic’s chief customer and commercial officer, Corneel Koster.
“On the rare occasion when operational issues or misconnecting flights may require bags to be located, our teams now have this shared source of information, so our customers have peace of mind on our progress,” Koster continued.
At the Lufthansa Group, the technology will also be used by SWISS, Austrian Airlines, Brussels Airlines, and Eurowings, as well as Lufthansa itself.
As an additional security measure, location sharing will automatically end as soon as the passenger is reunited with their bags and can be stopped by the passenger at any time. In addition, item sharing stops automatically after seven days.
Other airlines that have committed to accepting ‘Share Item Location’ links include Delta Air Lines and United Airlines, along with British Airways, Iberia, KLM, Qantas, Singapore Airlines, and Turkish Airlines.
The full list of participating airlines and a complete guide to using an Apple AirTag as a luggage tracker can be found here.
