Airline Says It Won’t Stop You From Tracking Your Checked Bag After All

The program line is a notable turn around from a few years ago , when the company ’s official Twitter business relationship madeat leasttwoposts suggestingthat activated AirTags and exchangeable trackers are unsafe when stow in checked travelling bag .

In response to those tweets , rumors arise that airlines , include Lufthansa , were set to enact a wholesale forbidding on trailing gimmick , mostly to save typeface amid achaotic summeroflost and delayedluggage . And ab initio , the company ’s response declare oneself little clarity , deferring obligation elsewhere . Semmel , the airline voice told Gizmodo :

The Lufthansa Group has carry its own hazard judgment with the issue that tracking devices with very low battery and transmission power in correspond baggage do not pose a prophylactic risk . We have never issue a ban on devices like that . It is on the self-assurance to accommodate regulations that right now limit the purpose of these devices for airline passengers in checked luggage . We are in near physical contact with the various mental home to recover a result as speedily as possible .

Apple AirTags are a popular way for people to location track easily lost items, like keys, cats, and checked bags at the airport. For a brief period though, it seemed like Lufthansa was cracking down.

Yet aviation regulators and Apple count in to clarify the matter . In a statementshared withmultiplenews outlets , Apple say its AirTags are “ compliant with international airline travel safety regularization for carry - on and checked baggage . ”

The European Union Aviation Safety agency furthertold The New York Timesthat its regulating did n’t “ in itself ban or countenance , ” tracking gimmick , but that airlines had the option to settle what they would permit . And the Federal Aviation Administration confirm that AirTagsare allowedon flight with U.S. newsboy , as they alignwith policieson low - powered wireless communication devices . In other words : If wireless headphones are fine , why would n’t Bluetooth trackers be ?

Unlike devices with much larger , lithium - ion batteries which the FAA does considerpotentially dangerous , the consensus seems to be that AirTags are dependable for storage room . So go ahead , tag your bag and follow its progress from departure to destination . But be aware that though an AirTag is n’t going to bring your plane down , the engineering does come withother dangers .

Lufthansa did not respond to Gizmodo’s request to explain or clarify this Tweet.