luggage lost on your last flight? No worries: you will soon be able to share its exact location with the airline.

Monday, Apple has launched a new iOS feature called Share Item Location. This is a new way to share real-time coordinates of lost or misplaced items with third parties, including airlines. This works on accessories that support Apple’s Find My feature, as well as AirTags.

Users can do this by opening Find My and generating a Share Item Location link for a particular item. If you send it to someone, they will receive a link that will display an interactive map showing the item in its current location, and the map will update as the item moves.

“The Find My network and AirTags have proven to be a powerful combination for users while traveling, providing invaluable location information when luggage has been misplaced or mishandled. “With Share Item Location, we’re excited to offer users a new way to easily share. this information directly with third parties like airlines, while protecting their privacy,” said Eddy Cue, Apple’s senior vice president of Services.

The feature is available in iOS 18.2 betaalthough the update should be widely available “soon”.

Once you collect your item, the shared location will be disabled.
Credit: Apple

People (including the author of this text) have already started use Apple AirTags to track lost luggage. This has helped me locate and speed up his recovery more than once. But with this new feature, Apple is looking to integrate it with airline customer service.

According to the company, more than 15 airlines will begin accepting Find My Item locations as part of their customer service. The list includes Aer Lingus, Air Canada, Air New Zealand, Austrian Airlines, British Airways, Brussels Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Eurowings, Iberia, KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, Lufthansa, Qantas, Singapore Airlines, Swiss International Air Lines, Turkish Airlines, United, Virgin Atlantic and Vueling. Apple says these airlines will be added to the program “in the coming months,” and more airlines will be added “in the coming months.”

Apple says it has taken care to keep this data secure and private. The process of sharing the item’s location is end-to-end encrypted and anonymous, the company said. And once the item is lost in your hands, shared location will automatically be deactivated.