Thermal and RFID Baggage Tags: Supporting IATA 753 Tracking

Thermal baggage tags and RFID baggage tags supply an identity that an airline’s baggage operation can read. They do not, by themselves, prove that a bag was accepted, loaded, transferred, or returned. For buyers planning a tag order, that distinction connects a physical manufacturing specification with the operational evidence the airline needs. A clear barcode or successful RFID response is an input to tracking; the handling system must turn that input into a meaningful record.

XHANCO, the brand of Guangdong Xinghan Industrial Co., Ltd. in Guangzhou, China, manufactures thermal baggage tags, RFID baggage tags and thermal boarding passes. Boarding passes and baggage tags have different formats and approval requirements; one is not a substitute for the other. The practical starting point for a supply discussion is the customer’s intended journey, equipment, and approved tag specification. This article reviews existing public guidance and purchasing considerations, checked on 16 October 2026; it does not announce a new rule taking effect today.

Four tracking points require more than four reads

IATA’s public explanation of Resolution 753 identifies four core points: passenger handover to the airline, loading onto the aircraft, delivery to the transfer area, and return to the passenger. It also addresses sharing tracking information with interline partners where required. See IATA’s baggage tracking overview. IATA is an airline industry association, not a government regulator.

A buyer can use these points to frame questions for the operations team. Where does physical responsibility change? Which device observes the bag there? Which application decides what the observation means? Who can retrieve the record after a disruption? Those questions help identify the tag’s job without assigning the entire tracking project to its manufacturer.

A reader may detect the same tag several times while a bag waits near a conveyor. Counting those responses as several completed handovers would confuse proximity with custody. An implementation should define which observations qualify as events, how repeated observations are handled, and what happens when information arrives late. These are project design recommendations, rather than additional IATA requirements asserted by this article.

Join the physical identifier to the operational journey

The printed or encoded identity needs an agreed relationship with the bag’s operational record. Procurement should ask the airline and system provider to establish that relationship before artwork or encoding instructions are released. A replacement tag, diverted journey, or retagging decision needs a documented treatment so staff can understand which identity is active.

The public IATA/ACI Baggage Tracking Implementation Guide, November 2023 edition, discusses recording methods and gives example event data including bag identity, flight, station, and time. Its transfer discussion calls for agreement between the relevant parties on custody change. This is useful implementation context, not evidence that a particular XHANCO product or airport installation has been approved.

For a purchasing team, a sample review should therefore include both the tag and a controlled operational demonstration. Can the team follow one test bag from its issued identifier to the expected record? Can it distinguish a valid event from an unread tag, a duplicate observation, and an operator correction? A small, traceable trial often reveals missing responsibilities more clearly than an isolated reader demonstration.

XHANCO’s scope is manufacturing and supply against agreed requirements. Departure control systems, baggage handling systems, reconciliation applications, event processing, and interline information exchange need their respective owners. The presence of RFID inside a tag does not transfer those responsibilities to the tag converter.

Two application examples: bag drop and transfer

Self-service bag drop: consider a project in which a passenger prints a tag and attaches it before placing the bag into the acceptance equipment. The trial should check that the loop remains attached, the printed information remains accessible, and the accepted bag links to the intended journey. A tag printed successfully but left in the passenger’s hand must not be treated as proof of physical acceptance. Buyers can review XHANCO’s airline and airport supplies category when preparing a baggage consumables enquiry.

Interline transfer: consider a bag moving from one carrier’s handler to another’s at a hub. A trial should test both the tag’s condition after handling and whether the receiving operation can use the identifier. The project teams should agree which point represents the handover and how an unresolved record is investigated. For this application, send XHANCO the transfer-tag supply requirements, including the approved construction and the equipment used in the proposed trial. These examples describe applications, not named customer deployments.

A procurement checklist for useful tracking evidence

Before ordering production quantities, use a written review checklist. The following is a recommended buying workflow, not a mandatory IATA qualification procedure:

• Identify the operational owner for each intended tracking point and its exception process.
• Supply controlled artwork, identifier rules, and any encoding instructions through an authorized project contact.
• Test samples on the intended printers and readers with realistic bag attachment and handling.
• Check that the visible identity, machine reading, and operational record agree for each test bag.
• Include duplicate reads, damaged tags, retagging, and transfer exceptions in the trial.
• Agree acceptance criteria, retained samples, lot identification, and change notification before repeat supply.

The useful deliverable is an agreed tag specification backed by evidence from the customer’s environment. XHANCO can review thermal and RFID baggage tag manufacturing requirements with procurement teams; project compatibility and operational acceptance should be confirmed through the agreed sample and system trials. Contact the team with your application, construction drawing, equipment details, and expected order quantities to begin that review.

Cover photo: Mark Stuckey / Unsplash, under the Unsplash License. Illustrative Lisbon Airport baggage-claim photograph; not evidence of a XHANCO customer, installation or airport approval.