In air travel, a baggage license plate is a numeric identifier on a checked bag’s tag – not a car plate. It is a unique ten-digit code printed on the bag tag in both barcode and human-readable form (en.wikipedia.org). The International Air Transport Association (IATA) uses this term to refer to the bag’s tag number. Each bag’s license plate links the piece of luggage to its journey and to the carrier’s tracking system. For example, the license plate lets the airport’s baggage handling system find the passenger’s flight and itinerary data for that bag (iata.org)(en.wikipedia.org).
The license plate number is composed of three parts, as defined by IATA. For instance, the sample code 0220208212 would break down into 0–220–208212, where “0” is a leading digit, “220” is the issuing airline’s code, and “208212” is a serial number. The leading digit (0–9) indicates the bag’s type or source (for example, interline, expedited, or fallback), while the next three digits are the carrier’s unique IATA code. The final six digits are a serial number assigned by the airline’s departure control system (iata.org). In practice, a bag tag will show the license plate (often called the bag tag number) as a barcode plus the same number in text, and that number is used by all baggage systems that handle the bag (en.wikiped)(ia.org).
IATA rules require that this full 10-digit license plate number be used whenever baggage information is communicated. In other words, when airlines exchange baggage data, they refer to the bag by its license plate number. Once the tag is printed, that number remains unchanged throughout the journey (iata.org). In fact, IATA Resolution 751 explicitly states that the license plate (leading digit, carrier code, and serial) must be used as a single identifier for each checked bag (iata.org). All baggage messages and tracking systems rely on this license plate as the key to link the bag’s tag to its passenger, flight and itinerary (iata.org).
Thus, a baggage license plate is simply the industry’s unique 10-digit ID for a checked bag. It is printed on the bag’s tag at check-in and used by airports and airlines to track and process the luggage through every stage of its journeyen.wikipedia.orgiata.org.
