The German airline Lufthansa eventually waives a ban on AirTags and other Bluetooth trackers that travellers increasingly use to track their (checked) luggage. The decision comes after the German aviation authorities confirmed that the gadgets do not pose a safety risk.
With devices such as Apple’s AirTags or the Samsung Galaxy SmartTag, it becomes a piece of cake to find out the location of your luggage or other items. But because the tiny battery-powered gadgets emit a wireless signal, Lufthansa decided to ban them last weekend.
“According to the ICAO International Civil Aviation Organization, baggage trackers are subject to dangerous goods regulations,” Lufthansa said in a tweet. ‘Due to their transmission function, the devices in the checked baggage must be switched off during the flight and therefore cannot be used.’ Incidentally, many trackers cannot simply be switched off. In the case of an Apple AirTag, for example, you really have to remove the battery.
However, the ban was short-lived in a tweet from Wednesday, the German airline reports, based on information from the Luftfahrtbundesamt, that trackers do not pose a safety risk due to their very low battery and transmission power and are therefore allowed on Lufthansa flights.
In response to the New York Times, Apple said that AirTags are not dangerous and “even meet international aviation safety rules for both carry-on and checked bags.”
