Virgin Australia has expanded its baggage tracking tool across entire domestic and international network, a service previously only available on domestic routes.

From today, travellers across the airline’s domestic and international routes will be able to register their checked-in luggage and monitor its journey through the airline’s app.

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The tool has taken the airline about two years to bring to market, with a phase one roll out piloted in September, 2023. The function allows passengers to see when their checked luggage is transferred to an international partner airline and will notify travellers when and at which carousel their baggage is available for collection.

Virgin Australia Group Chief Customer and Digital Officer Paul Jones said lost baggage was a key concern for international and domestic travellers.

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“We are also proud to be able to launch this new feature while having some of the lowest figures in the market when it comes to mishandled or lost bags, with a mishandled baggage rate of just 1.5 per 1,000 guests – five times better than the last recorded industry average,” he said.

According to global aviation data company SITA, about 7.6 bags per 1000 passengers were mishandled in 2022, however data from Virgin between January to August 2023, suggested the airline performed better than the industry average.

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