Lufthansa bans ‘dangerous’ AirTags used to track lost luggage

The Bluetooth tags have become increasingly popular with travellers to protect against lost luggage

Airline representatives said the tags were ‘classified as dangerous' (Getty Images)

The airline Lufthansa appears to have banned AirTags from its passengers’ luggage, meaning travellers cannot track their belongings using the Bluetooth devices.

AirTags, which have become increasingly popular among travellers after a summer of airport chaos and luggage loss, add the tracker tag to luggage when it goes into a plane’s hold, enabling holidaymakers to locate them online if they go missing.

But in August, the German publication WirtschaftsWoche reported that Lufthansa was to ban the use of the tags, considering them in the same category as certain electronic devices such as phones and laptops, Insider reported.

Under the airline’s new rules, travellers would reportedly have to remove batteries from the devices before boarding a flight.

At the time, a Lufthansa spokesperson told WirtschaftsWoche: "Baggage trackers belong to the category of portable electronic devices and are therefore subject to the dangerous goods regulations for carriage in airplanes issued by the International Civil Aviation Organization.

“Accordingly, due to their transmission function, the trackers must be used similarly to cell phones, laptops, tablets, etc during the flight if they are in checked baggage."

After the reports surfaced, a customer tweeted the airline directly on 8 October to ask about the policy. He said: “@Lufthansa Rumour is spreading that Lufthansa has banned airtags from checked baggage. Is this rumour correct? Are @Apple AirTags banned from your flights? Thank you.”

A customer service agent for Lufthansa replied: “Lufthansa is banning activated AirTags from luggage as they are classified as dangerous and need to be turned off.”

After a reply, Lufthansa continued: “According to ICAO guidelines, baggage trackers are subject to the dangerous goods regulations.

“Furthermore, due to their transmission function, the trackers must be deactivated during the flight if they are in checked baggage and cannot be used as a result.”

It is unclear how Lufthansa plans to enforce this policy, with many passengers already routinely packing the locator tags into their hold luggage.

The Independent has approached Lufthansa for comment.

Luggage loss has been a huge topic of conversation this summer. Just last week, a passenger was left without vital prosthetics equipment after a British Airways luggage check-in error.

Passengers have struggled with luggage problems all over the UK, from extremely long delays to belongings going missing altogether. This has run alongside a tirade of flight delays and cancellations.

AirTags, such as Apple’s AirTag, have become popular among travellers who want to keep track of their own luggage.

The Independent tried out the controversial tracking device this summer while travelling from the UK to New York’s John F Kennedy Airport - with the writer at one stage discovering that her suitcase was over 5,000 miles away from her.

The growth in luggage loss has been put down to a lack of staff on the ground, after airports failed to replace workers who had been made redundant during the pandemic. This is exacerbated by staff shortages due to Brexit.

Airports are also said to have underestimated the demand for holidays this summer following lockdown. Ryanair chief executive Michael O’Leary told Sky News: “A lot of these pinch points would be solved very quickly if we could bring in European workers.

“We are hide-bound and hamstrung by a government so desperate to show Brexit has been a success, when it’s been an abject failure. It won’t allow us to bring in EU workers to do these jobs.”

This article was amended on 11 October 2022. It previously referred to AirTags using GPS technology, which was incorrect. The devices use Bluetooth.