Lufthansa Says Apple AirTags Are Once Again Allowed in Checked Bags
On an airline, you have three options for checking bags: you can check them into the overhead compartment in the airport (where you’d have to be standing up), in a checked bag that you hand over to the baggage screener at the check-in counter, or in a checked bag that you carry on.
Lufthansa, the German airline, says that Apple has once again failed to update its software — or, at least, its software update — to prevent users from turning AirTags into Apple Passports.
“Lufthansa confirms that it has implemented the latest software update with Apple’s AirDrop. However, it failed to update this software to prevent the use of AirTags, which Apple has been unable to fix,” the company wrote in its statement.
We’ve seen this problem come up several times over the years — in 2009, when Lufthansa implemented AirTags for its passengers in checked bags, and in 2010 when the company switched to AirDrop for its passengers in checked bags. It’s pretty hard to believe that Lufthansa would choose to deploy an AirDrop-centric bag process when it has the technology available that should make all this superfluous.
But Lufthansa has not been shy about its love of Apple’s technology. Last October, Lufthansa introduced a “smart bag,” which it said will offer passengers “additional storage space by providing USB flash drives, memory sticks, or other plug-in devices that can be integrated into the check-in bag.”
Apple didn’t think the smart bag was a “smart” product. And Lufthansa, for whatever reason, apparently did.
“The current situation is not clear to us because the product is still in development,” the company wrote in its original press release. “The situation could change with further development.