Lufthansa telling passengers to turn off AirTags in their checked luggage

Lufthansa is telling passengers to switch off tracking devices placed in their luggage, rendering the hardware useless in keeping track of bags, Report informs referring to the Business Insider.

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."

This would make it impossible to keep track of the tag or luggage during a journey.

"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 Organisation," 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.