PASSENGER BAGGAGE LOCATION SHARING BECOMES KEY TO AIRLINE BAGGAGE RECOVERY AS SITA INTEGRATES GOOGLE’S FIND HUB INTO WORLDTRACER®

Passenger-enabled baggage location sharing becomes a key element in airline baggage recovery as SITA integrates Google’s Find Hub into WorldTracer®

GENEVA – 4 March 2026 – The sharing of baggage location by passengers through their personal devices is becoming a key element in baggage recovery for airlines. As more and more travelers choose to share the location of their bag when it is delayed, airlines can use this information directly within their baggage systems to resolve cases more quickly and reduce permanent losses. To support this evolution, SITA has integrated Google’s Find Hub item location-sharing functionality into WorldTracer®, the global system used by airlines to locate and return delayed or mishandled baggage.

When a passenger chooses to share the location of their bag, airline teams can view this information directly in WorldTracer® to help facilitate recovery. This transforms how airlines approach a delayed bag by adding an additional source of location information to help resolve the delay. Traditionally, recovery relied on airport scans and data exchanges between airlines. Passenger-authorized location sharing adds another layer of visibility, helping teams narrow search areas and prioritize cases when a bag does not arrive as expected.

The process remains fully controlled by the passenger. If a bag is delayed, the traveler can generate a secure link in Find Hub and provide it to the airline. Sharing can be stopped at any time. Links expire automatically. Location data is encrypted, and only the passenger decides who can access it and for how long.

“Airlines operate in an environment where passengers expect to be able to track their bags at every stage of the journey,” explains Nicole Hogg, Director of the Baggage Portfolio at SITA. “When a bag is delayed, uncertainty increases compensation costs, pressure on customer service, and reputational risk. What we are seeing is a shift from manual tracing to more transparent, data-supported recovery. When passengers choose to share their bag’s location, airlines gain insight at the moment it matters most. This illustrates the evolution of baggage recovery toward greater transparency, collaboration, and precision.”

Thanks to this integration, passenger-authorized location sharing from the world’s most widely used mobile platforms can now be incorporated into WorldTracer®. This development also reflects a broader industry trend toward making data sharing more open and secure across the travel ecosystem. As airports, airlines, and technology providers collaborate more closely, the exchange of reliable data is becoming central to improving operational performance and the passenger experience.

Over the past two decades, baggage mishandling rates have decreased by 67%, even as the number of passengers has more than doubled, according to SITA’s Baggage IT Insights 2025 report. This evolution reflects the industry’s continued progress, driven by smarter systems and better use of data. As passenger numbers continue to grow, the addition of passenger-authorized location data into airline systems reflects a broader shift toward clearer and better-informed baggage recovery processes that benefit both airlines and passengers.

WorldTracer® is used by more than 500 airlines and ground-handling service providers across approximately 2,800 airports worldwide. By enabling secure location sharing from major consumer ecosystems, WorldTracer® supports a more connected and transparent approach to baggage recovery on a global scale.

Source: WorldTracer