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It’s one of every vacationer’s biggest bugbears – you arrive at your chosen destination only to find your luggage is nowhere to be seen and seemingly lost in a conveyor belt-shaped vortex.
However, passengers flying with British Airways can track their lost luggage more quickly by sharing location data on their smartphones with the airline.
International Airlines Group (IAG), which owns British Airways, has partnered with Apple to allow passengers to store an AirTag tracking device in their belongings and then share their location with the airline through a new feature in the associated app.
According to IAG, the system can locate a misplaced bag by leveraging a crowdsourced network of more than a billion Apple devices around the world that use Bluetooth technology to search for its location, which is reported to the owner.
People using AirTags have previously been able to track their luggage, but have not been able to share the information directly with airlines.
Carriers themselves have relied on the use of barcode stickers and tags that are scanned to direct luggage to its location or find it if a connecting flight is missed or mishandled.
In the wake of the pandemic, mishandled baggage rates skyrocketed, reaching their highest level in a decade in 2022. While the situation has since improved, an average of seven bags were lost for every 1,000 checked bags last year, according to aviation data specialist Sita.
IAG’s Annalisa Gigante said she hoped the location sharing tool would provide “additional security” for passengers. The technology is also used by IAG’s other airlines Aer Lingus, Iberia and Vueling.
Ms Gigante said: “We can see exactly where everything is and reunite passengers with their luggage as quickly as possible.”
The new system should not only allow lost items to be found more quickly, but also help reduce costs, she said.
Apple announced last month that it planned to open AirTag to airlines, provided customers gave their consent.
Passengers who are missing a bag can create a link to share the item’s location in the Find My app on their iPhone, iPad or Mac laptop so airline customer service teams can access the information.
Recipients of a link can visit a website that displays the location of a specific object on an interactive map. This updates as the object moves and shows times for each update.
The process is anonymous and encrypted so that Apple and its supplier cannot view the information, according to IAG.
Location sharing can be stopped at any time and ends automatically as soon as a customer has their bag back or after seven days.
Another dozen airlines, including Virgin Atlantic, have committed to integrating Apple AirTags into their processes for tracking mishandled or delayed bags.
