British Airways owner adopts AirTags in bid to find lost luggage

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The owner of British Airways has started incorporating Apple Inc. AirTags in its luggage-handling system, saying it expects the new tool to lower costs and more quickly locate wayward bags.

IAG SA has switched on the location-sharing tool across all of its carriers, including Iberia and Aer Lingus, the group’s head of innovation, Annalisa Gigante, said in an interview. It’s too early to know how much money can be saved because it’s still being tested, she said.

“We can see exactly where everything is and reunite passengers with bags as quickly as possible,” Gigante said in an interview.

The added service was made possible in November, when Apple allowed iPhone users to share the location of their AirTags. The technology company said then that more than 15 airlines, including BA, would begin using the new feature. Delta Air Lines, Deutsche Lufthansa AG and Singapore Airlines are among the carriers that signed on.

Passengers with lost luggage containing an AirTag can share a location link to airlines, which then look for the bag through their own systems. The link expires after seven days, or when the item is returned to the passenger.

Calls to incorporate AirTags into bag-handling systems increased after the pandemic, when a surge in travel overwhelmed airlines and airports that were unprepared for the sudden rebound in business. The chaos highlighted how Bluetooth tracking devices were often more effective in finding misplaced bags than standard technology using mainly bar-codes.

“When the technology is ripe and the use case really makes sense and it’s a quick win, then of course we should prioritize it,” Gigante said.