Lost luggage solution? Air India uses Apple AirTag for tracking

India’s main airline has just made keeping tabs on your luggage a whole lot easier. Air India, on Friday, announced the integration of Apple AirTag with its baggage-tracking system and mobile application, offering passengers with Apple iPhones, iPads, or Macs the ability to monitor the location of their luggage in real-time. Air India says it is the first airline in Asia to provide this integrated tracking service.

The airline handles over 100 million baggage items annually and has been working hard to enhance customer experience since the Tata Group reclaimed ownership of the airline in 2022. The airline said this solution is for “a small percentage of bags that face delays due to airport system issues or flight misconnections.”

The airline said the new feature builds on Air India’s existing baggage tracking functionality, which is available on its mobile app and website. This already utilizes real-time airport information.

For passengers who have added their flight details to the ‘My Trips’ section of the app or the ‘Track my Bags’ tab on the website, baggage information will be automatically available shortly after check-in. Customers can also manually initiate tracking by scanning their baggage receipts' barcodes.

“As we transform into a world-class global airline, we are excited to offer our guests an innovative option to help locate their baggage in case it does not arrive at the destination on schedule,” said Dr Satya Ramaswamy, Chief Digital & Technology Officer, Air India. He added, “We are confident that our guests will find the baggage location capability offered using Apple’s AirTag and Share Item Location feature along with Air India’s real-time baggage-tracking system on its website and mobile app quite helpful.

Unfortunately, Apple AirTags are primarily designed to work within the Apple ecosystem. Even though Android users can detect an AirTag that isn’t with its owner (to help prevent unwanted tracking), they cannot natively set up, pair with, or see the real-time location of an AirTag through a built-in Android app in the same way that iPhone users can with the Find My app on Apple devices.

How does the feature work?

Passengers whose baggage doesn’t arrive at their destination can report it at the Air India Baggage Counter and file a Property Irregularity Report (PIR). Following this, they must use the ‘Share Item Location’ feature within the ‘Find My’ app on their Apple device to generate a location link. This link must be shared with Air India through the airline’s mobile app or website.

Mobile App: Navigate to the ‘Customer Support Portal’, choose ‘Baggage’, select ‘Lost and Found Check-in Baggage’, and provide the AirTag link.

Website: Visit the ‘Lost and Found Check-in Baggage’ section within the Customer Support Portal page to submit the ‘Share Item Location’ link and the PIR number.

Upon submission, passengers will receive an email from Air India with a link to monitor their baggage status. Air India’s airport teams will utilize the shared AirTag location to find the baggage within airport premises and expedite its return to the passenger.

The location sharing will automatically terminate once the baggage is reunited with the guest or will expire automatically after seven days. Passengers also retain the option to stop sharing their location at any time, the airline said.

This new feature requires Apple devices running on iOS 18.2, iPadOS 18.2, or macOS 15.2 or later to utilize the ‘Share Item Location’ functionality fully. Now, a growing list of airlines are adding the ability for passengers to share location data from AirTags with airline customer service agents directly via their apps and website.

Airlines set to roll out FindMy compatibility features soon include Aer Lingus, Air Canada, Air New Zealand, British Airways, Iberia, KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, Qantas, Singapore Airlines, Turkish Airlines, Virgin Atlantic, and Vueling, according to Apple.