Air New Zealand launches bag-tracking feature

The bag-tracking feature has already been widely adopted by several international carriers. Photo / 123RF

From today, travellers flying with Air New Zealand will be able to track their bags.

The airline is updating its app to include a tracker that keeps customers informed about the status of their baggage.

The feature has already been widely adopted by several international carriers, including United Airlines and Singapore Airlines.

“We’re always listening to our customers to understand how we can make their journey with us as smooth as possible,” chief customer and sales officer Leanne Geraghty said in a statement.

“We heard from them that being able to track their bags’ location would make their experience even more stress-free, so we quickly began making that customer request a reality.”

Geraghty said Air New Zealand had been testing the programme since April, with 25 per cent of domestic customers and 5 per cent of international customers having access to the feature during the last six months.

“Since April, over 8000 customers have successfully tracked their checked-in baggage in our trial phase with the in-app feature,” she said.

“We’ve had overwhelmingly positive feedback from customers who have tested the feature, too.”

She hoped the feature would give passengers peace of mind, allowing them to double-check that their luggage was with them on their flight.

After dropping off their bag, customers would see a “check status” option on their app that would update each time the bag was scanned.

Missing or damaged bags could be reported directly from the app, Geraghty said.