German airline Lufthansa banning AirTags from flights, citing “dangerous goods” regulations

German airline Lufthansa is banning AirTags onboard flights after wrongly citing guidelines from the International Civilian Aviation Organization, which controls what can be brought onboard an aircraft and what items pose a danger to the safety of passengers and crew onboard.

As reported by AppleInsider, Lufthansa is banning AirTags from cabin luggage on its flights “as they are classified as dangerous and need to be turned off.”

However, the regulation quoted by the airline does not apply to AirTags, despite Lufthansa’s claims, which apply to devices using lithium ion batteries, like the MacBook Pro, and not coin cell batteries, such as those used by AirTags.

Furthermore, Lufthansa say the location transmitters on AirTags also fall under the ICAO dangerous goods classification, although this again isn’t completely true, as the low-powered transmitters used by AirTags aren’t strong enough to pose a risk to in-flight aircraft equipment.

As noted by AppleInsider, who spoke with multiple international aviation experts, the ban is “a way to stop Lufthansa from being embarrassed by lost luggage,” with sources saying the ban isn’t based on anything in the regulation.

Lufthansa has been hit with questions from passengers on Twitter, who are questioning the ban which only Lufthansa is enforcing.

Apple announced AirTag – the long-rumored tracking accessory that integrates with the Find My app to allow users to track items such as handbags, keys, backpacks, or other items from their iPhone – in 2021.

Priced at $29, the affordable tracker is equipped with the Apple-designed U1 chip using Ultra Wideband technology, enabling Precision Finding, a feature which, as a user moves, fuses input from the camera, ARKit, accelerometer, and gyroscope, to guide them to their AirTag using a combination of sound, haptics, and visual feedback.