SITA confirms HUGE impact of Apple’s AirTags on lost luggage recovery
There have been numerous reports of people abusing AirTag
SITA, the IT provider for the air transport industry introduced integration between its own baggage tracing tech and Apple’s Find My and Air Tags just one year ago. Now it says the combination has reduced the quantity of permanently lost luggage by an astonishing 90%. It’s probably the best tip yet that air travellers should purchase Air Tags to protect their stuff.
Don’t leave home without?
The integration means passengers using an Apple AirTag or a Find My network accessory can use Share Item Location to temporarily and securely share their bag’s location with their airline through SITA WorldTracer.
This creates a direct link between the Find My location and airline recovery systems – and it works.
In a press release published just before Christmas, SITA told us:
- For bags with an AirTag or Find My network accessory, the number of truly lost bags decreased by 90 percent when location sharing is enabled through SITA’s WorldTracer tech.
- Airlines using Find My Share Item Location have also seen a 26 percent reduction in recovery time of delayed bags.
- 29 airlines now using the Apple Find My integration in WorldTracer as part of their baggage recovery processes, with more airlines expected to adopt it in the coming months.
To put this in context, global mishandling rates are currently 6.3 bags per thousand passengers, and 66 percent of mishandled bags are reunited with their owners within 48 hours.
What SITA said
“This year has shown the power of working together,” said Nicole Hogg, Portfolio Director, Baggage at SITA.
“When consumer technology and aviation infrastructure are connected in the right way, the results can be transformative. Travelers feel more confident, airlines make better decisions earlier, and the entire recovery process becomes more predictable. This is exactly the kind of shared innovation that moves the industry forward.”
He added: “What we are seeing with Find My Share Item Location is that when passengers choose to share high-quality location data, airlines gain a level of clarity that was not available before. This is helping reduce lost baggage, speed up recovery, and support more resilient operations at a moment when the industry needs it most.”
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