Apple teams with global airlines to locate lost baggage via AirTag. Details

Apple is reportedly working to help passengers locate lost belongings in collaboration with over 15 airline partners across regions like North America, Australia, Asia, and Europe

Tech giant Apple has introduced a new feature in iOS called ‘Share Item Location’, which allows air travellers to securely share the whereabouts of their AirTag or compatible ‘Find My’ network accessory with third parties, including airlines, to assist in recovering misplaced items.

 

In collaboration with over 15 airline partners across regions like North America, Australia, Asia, and Europe, Apple is reportedly working to help passengers locate lost belongings. These airline, partners are expected to roll out their tracking services in the coming months.

 

The list of participating airlines includes prominent names such as Air Canada, Air New Zealand, Austrian Airlines, British Airways, Delta Air Lines, Lufthansa, Qantas, Turkish Airlines, United, and Virgin Atlantic.

 

How does the tracking feature operate?

 

Users can generate a Share Item Location link through the ‘Find My’ app on their iPhone, iPad, or Mac. When shared, this link lets recipients access an interactive map showing the location of the item, which updates automatically whenever the item’s position changes. Each update is time-stamped to indicate the most recent location.

 

Apple has also assured that the entire process of sharing item tracking links with service providers will be end-to-end encrypted.

 

The company said in a statement that the Share Item Location is built on the ‘Find My’ network, a crowdsourced network of over one billion Apple devices that use Bluetooth wireless technology to detect missing devices or items nearby, and report their approximate location back to the owner. 

 

Which airlines have partnered with Apple?

 

Apple stated that it has worked directly with its airline partners to implement secure systems for receiving Share Item Location links, leveraging the Apple devices many airlines already use. Access to the link will be restricted to a select few individuals, and recipients must authenticate via either their Apple Account or partner email address to view the information.

 

In the months ahead, more than 15 airlines — including Aer Lingus, Air Canada, Air New Zealand, Austrian Airlines, British Airways, Brussels Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Eurowings, Iberia, KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, Lufthansa, Qantas, Singapore Airlines, Swiss International Air Lines, Turkish Airlines, United, Virgin Atlantic, and Vueling — will begin incorporating ‘Find My’ item locations as part of their customer service to track mishandled or delayed baggage, with more airlines expected to join in the future.

 

When will the feature be widely available?

 

Share Item Location is currently available as part of the public beta for iOS 18.2 in most regions. If you don’t have the beta version, you won’t yet have access to the feature. However, Apple has announced that iOS 18.2 will soon be available as a free software update for iPhone Xs and later models.