Lufthansa, a German airline, has removed AirTags form its flights after passengers used it to track the location and status of their luggage. Representatives from the company stated this. Follow us on Twitter that Lufthansa “is banning activated AirTags from luggage as they are classified as dangerous and need to be turned off.” Pressed for a reason, a separate rep ClaimThe decision was made based on international guidelines.
“According to ICAO guidelines,” the representative wrote, “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.” AirTags can be Removed from Find MyEasily, but it defeats the purpose.
The water was clarified however by a more formal statement from Lufthansa. Airways magazine on Saturday that it had “not banned AirTags, and there is no guideline or regulation by Lufthansa to ban AirTags. There is a standing ICAO regulation on such devices, but this has nothing to do with Lufthansa or any other carrier.”
But, this explanation is semantics: AirTags AreThe flights were banned, but the question is who made the decision.
Nobody seems to know if the claim is true. Many Twitter users claimed that devices with lithium batteries smaller than a certain size are exempted from the regulations and that AirTags should be included. The TSA has said there isn’t a problem with wireless trackers, and the German site WatsonThe reporter, who broke the story, received a similar response from representatives from Munich and Berlin airports.
AirTags seem to be a controversial topic in the airline industry. Watson points out that many airlines accept them. American Air representative Macworld was told on Twitter rather cautiously that “at the moment, no info indicates these devices are banned from our flights.” EasyJet: “We do not have a policy against having Apple AirTags with you onboard.” We’ve contacted several other airlines and will update this article with their responses if and when they arrive.
Apple’s AirTag trackers launched in April 2021 but only recently came under scrutiny by Lufthansa.
Apple
This reporter isn’t an expert in airline regulations, and cannot offer much insight into the ins and outs of dangerous goods classifications–other than to wonder why it’s taken until October 2022 for pre-existing regulations to be used to proscribe a device released in April 2021. This suggests that it is user behavior and not a scientifically proven danger. AirTags that could cause planes to fall out of the skies would have been banned by anyone who was concerned.
Experts in travel believe that Lufthansa was motivated by the fact that passengers started using AirTags for tracking the location of their luggage. Ben Schlappig from the One Mile at a Time, says he is “not surprised to see Lufthansa be the first airline to add a ban like this. Lufthansa isn’t exactly a customer-friendly airline, and the airline has had an awful summer when it comes to lost bags. AirTags empower travellers in terms of knowing exactly where their bags are, and I imagine that’s something some airlines don’t actually like. If you look at Twitter, you’ll see a ton of people expressing frustration with Lufthansa because they know exactly where their checked bag is, while the airline refuses to help.”
This is ultimately a matter of PR and not legality. Lufthansa has the right to ban certain devices from its flights. It doesn’t matter if the ban is initiated by the airline or the ICAO from a customer’s perspective. Your only recourse is to vote with your wallet and fly with an airline that does allow AirTags–but now that Lufthansa has moved first, we wouldn’t be surprised to see other airlines follow suit.
