Lufthansa is telling passengers to turn off AirTags in their checked luggage

[Airband]

Lufthansa is telling passengers to turn off AirTags in their checked luggage, rendering them useless, report says

Sat Oct 08, 2022 - Business Insider
by Ryan Hogg

Lufthansa is banning activated AirTags from passengers' luggage, per German media. The airline said the tags were classed as "dangerous goods" and needed to be turned off.

Local publication WirtschaftsWoche first reported in August that the German airline was treating the tags, such as Apple's AirTag, as an electronic device like phones and laptops, indicating their batteries would need to be removed prior to flying as they were "dangerous goods." 

"Baggage trackers belong to the category of portable electronic devices and are therefore subject to the dangerous goods regulations for carriage in airplanes issued by the International Civil Aviation Organization," a Lufthansa spokesperson told WirtschaftsWoche. 

"Accordingly, due to their transmission function, the trackers must be used similarly to cell phones, laptops, tablets, etc. during the flight if they are in checked baggage."

Air tracking hardware like the Apple AirTag became a saving grace for passengers during a summer of travel chaos where thousands of bags were lost. 

Some passengers were even able to use data from their tags to contradict airlines' claims about where their luggage was located, while an Apple AirTag helped track a lost bag to an airline worker's home, who was subsequently charged with theft.

A spokesperson for Berlin Brandenburg Airport told local publication Watson in a statement that the airport did not have a ban on trackers like AirTags, and that they typically would not be removed from luggage.

The spokesperson added, however, that the airport abided by the guidelines of each of its airlines, suggesting active trackers found in bags destined for a Lufthansa flight could be removed.

"Basically, my colleagues deal with the baggage act according to the specifications of the airlines. Because [airlines basically decide] what is and is not allowed on board their planes," the spokesperson said.

Lufthansa didn't immediately respond to Insider's request for comment made outside normal working hours.

[Vsplat]

That's about as transparent an act of limiting transparency as I have seen.

Apple AirTags use bluetooth, not cellular frequencies.  Last I checked, bluetooth headphones were allowed on board.  As is wifi in many cases, as long as it's tied to the aircraft (i.e. paid access) network.

Meanwhile, 5G just triggered a worldwide update of radio altimeters for certain types and the regulators were OK with that.  Hmmm..

I call BS on this. 

Vs

[Innuendo]

Do they have the ability to scan checked bags for active Air tags and enforce their ban?

Unless they can do that, (or convince travellers they can), I suspect most people will ignore the ban.

[Guest2]

1 hour ago, Vsplat said:

That's about as transparent an act of limiting transparency as I have seen.

Apple AirTags use bluetooth, not cellular frequencies.  Last I checked, bluetooth headphones were allowed on board.  As is wifi in many cases, as long as it's tied to the aircraft (i.e. paid access) network.

Meanwhile, 5G just triggered a worldwide update of radio altimeters for certain types and the regulators were OK with that.  Hmmm..

I call BS on this. 

Vs

Seems that it is  not about Blue tooth, from the article:

Quote

Local publication WirtschaftsWoche first reported in August that the German airline was treating the tags, such as Apple's AirTag, as an electronic device like phones and laptops, indicating their batteries would need to be removed prior to flying as they were "dangerous goods." 

Of course the same size battery is in your watch, your packed alarm clock etc etc etc

Quote

Insert a new CR2032 lithium 3V coin battery (available at most electronic and drug stores) with the positive side facing up.Jul 20, 2022

 

[Maverick]

This is laughable. I used Apple air tags for my recent cycling trip to Portugal and they worked great! They are also so small that they're really not detectable with the normal scanners. Lufthansa is just a bit butt hurt over their crappy service.   

[J.O.]

In spite of what the spokesperson said, the issue isn’t the signal, it’s the battery. They’re lithium ion and Lufthansa is right, they’re dangerous goods when carried in checked baggage. Now I have no idea how powerful the batteries in such a tiny device would be but the regulation doesn’t delineate by battery size. All LI batteries must be declared as DG in checked baggage and packaged accordingly. Inside a device and powered on is not that.

Edited October 8, 2022 by J.O.

[Innuendo]

As Skeptic says, the airtag battery is a CR2032 lithium button type of battery.

They are the type used in the key fobs of Honda, Merc etc. cars (and the scales in my bathroom among other things), they are in all sorts of devices.

 

i guess Lithium is in the dangerous goods category in the manuals hence LHs interpretation  of the Regs.

i wonder if others will agree and act accordingly?

I would think that the airline industry would welcome passengers being able to track their baggage.

When your bag does not show up you can go the baggage desk and tell them where it was last located by "Find My" which is probably, in most cases, exactly where it is.

Save them a lot of time searching .

 

 

 

 

Edited October 9, 2022 by Innuendo

[Vsplat]

Yeah I get the Lithium Ion link.   I don't recall a campaign to purge car keys or travel alarms from checked baggage.   A single button cell of this type is something in the order of 3/4 of a Watt Hour.  The carry on restrictions are divided at around 100 Watt Hours.

This is not being driven by safety in my opinion.

Vs

[Guest2]

11 hours ago, Vsplat said:

Yeah I get the Lithium Ion link.   I don't recall a campaign to purge car keys or travel alarms from checked baggage.   A single button cell of this type is something in the order of 3/4 of a Watt Hour.  The carry on restrictions are divided at around 100 Watt Hours.

This is not being driven by safety in my opinion.

Vs

Perhaps den Schein wahrend..   eg. Sorry sir your bag did not arrive,   Well my airtag says it did...... 

[conehead]

Lufthansa has reversed the policy...

https://gizmodo.com/airtag-checked-bag-airlines-lufthansa-1849652219