While I definitely approve this and consider the limit to be one too many, I wish ecigarettes would be rather the target as soon as possible. Those are dangerous, and lately the most potential culprit for lithium related problems aboard.
Phones, tablets, and laptops are not sold in bodegas, designed to be disposable, and thus made as incredibly cheaply as possible.
The high end vapes use huge amounts of current to the point that vape users will specifically seek unprotected cells because the protection circuitry adds a slight bit of internal resistance.
So then the unprotected cells can then short out in their bags or otherwise be damaged and fail when the vape electronics fail...
I think many don't appreciate just how horrifically cheap and dangerous some of this stuff is. Not just vapes, but things like charging bricks too.
I'm generally not a proponent of draconian regulation but I firmly believe that any electronics handling substantial voltage not approved by UL or similar should be rejected at the border. It's all dangerous and incentive to manufacture it needs to be curbed.
I have seen things approved by those sort of organizations that were extremely dangerous, such as a listed fire alarm that when installed has a significant chance of becoming silently deactivated.
With that said, it can be even worse when it isn't listed.
E cigarettes work by shorting the battery releasing a lot of instantenous heat. Their safety controller firmware are often of ... Dubious quality. It can happen quite often that the cigarette doesn't stop shorting the battery and catch fire as a result.
Making fire is literally their function unlike a laptop.
Combine that with basically unregulated and semi illegal supply chain and it becomes a recipe for disaster
Many airlines are going much further than this, for instance Virgin Atlantic ban you from either charging or charging from any power bank, and you can't keep them in the overhead locker, you must keep them next to you in case it starts burning spontaneously!
They have a "fire containment bag" they can chuck it in should you notice it getting hot or smoking.
Interesting... anyone know if they've released the rationale/data behind this? I could see a few reasons why power banks present a larger risk than phones/computers (battery capacity, quality control), but it seems like the 100Wh battery limit already covers one of these.
In a similar vein, China banned non-CCC certified (the equivalent to UL or CE) power banks on flights from 2025, which seems to be targeting the quality control side of the problem. Not just on paper - the security officers inspected every lithium battery I was carrying, even the one in my flashlight.
I bring a single high-quality large power bank whenever I travel. It's hard to reliably find power for my phone, laptop, e-reader, earbuds, gamma spectrometer, flashlight, etc while in the airport or in flight. Not every plane I end up on has reliable USB chargers. Sometimes it's handy to just plug my devices in while they're in my bag.
Fingers crossed the Donut Lab solid state battery ends up being the real deal, lives up to the hype, and this sillyness can finally go away. Recent tests look promising from a (lack of a) thermal runaway standpoint at least.
The only question is if the rules will mind the difference in battery composition and chemistry.
Limiting the devices to two per person seems nonsensical to me. The devices are either dangerous, or they're not. If they're dangerous, two is too many. And if they're not, then why limit them only to two?
I just use my laptop as a powerbank these days. What I typically need to charge is a phone, with way smaller capacity than my macbook. So it works pretty well now that everything has usbc.
Content nonwithstanding, announcing rule changes like this with immediately taking effect is just shoddy practice. At least give travellers a few weeks of heads-up.
Power banks were a mistake. It's akin to carrying fireworks in your bag. Ban them all from air travel.
Every one I have owned has been recalled for being a fire hazard. EVERY SINGLE ONE. I stopped buying them as a result. We're talking name brand devices, not junk off AliExpress.
“Spare batteries, including power banks:
must not be recharged on board the aircraft;
should not be used to charge portable electronic devices on board the aircraft;
the number carried is limited to a maximum of two per person.”
183 comments
While I definitely approve this and consider the limit to be one too many, I wish ecigarettes would be rather the target as soon as possible. Those are dangerous, and lately the most potential culprit for lithium related problems aboard.
The high end vapes use huge amounts of current to the point that vape users will specifically seek unprotected cells because the protection circuitry adds a slight bit of internal resistance.
So then the unprotected cells can then short out in their bags or otherwise be damaged and fail when the vape electronics fail...
I'm generally not a proponent of draconian regulation but I firmly believe that any electronics handling substantial voltage not approved by UL or similar should be rejected at the border. It's all dangerous and incentive to manufacture it needs to be curbed.
With that said, it can be even worse when it isn't listed.
Making fire is literally their function unlike a laptop.
Combine that with basically unregulated and semi illegal supply chain and it becomes a recipe for disaster
They have a "fire containment bag" they can chuck it in should you notice it getting hot or smoking.
https://www.virginatlantic.com/en-US/help/articles/powerbank...
In a similar vein, China banned non-CCC certified (the equivalent to UL or CE) power banks on flights from 2025, which seems to be targeting the quality control side of the problem. Not just on paper - the security officers inspected every lithium battery I was carrying, even the one in my flashlight.
The only question is if the rules will mind the difference in battery composition and chemistry.
Every one I have owned has been recalled for being a fire hazard. EVERY SINGLE ONE. I stopped buying them as a result. We're talking name brand devices, not junk off AliExpress.
ICAO Technical Instructions (Part 8, Table 8-1 amendment):
“Spare batteries, including power banks: must not be recharged on board the aircraft; should not be used to charge portable electronic devices on board the aircraft; the number carried is limited to a maximum of two per person.”