Emirates will ban the use of power banks aboard its flights and only allow passengers to bring one such device onto th
e plane, further restricting travelers from carrying electronic gadgets on aircraft.
“Emirates is taking a firm and proactive stance to mitigate risk when it comes to power banks onboard,” the Dubai carrier said in a statement on Friday.
The airline said the “significant growth” in customers using power banks in recent years has led to a rising numb
er of lithium battery-related incidents during flight across the industry.
The risks associated with portable power banks have come into wider focus this year after an Air Busan Co. plane cau
ght fire in January, with a hand-held battery recharger the suspected cause of the blaze. South Korean authoritie
s responded by ordering travelers to seal up ports on chargers or place them in separate plastic bags. Following this i
ncident, Singapore Airlines Ltd., Thai Airways and AirAsia said they would ban the use of power banks on their flights.
In March, a Batik Air flight filled with smoke from a burning power bank and a Hong Kong Airlines flight had to do an emergency landing in China for the same reason.
As of October, Emirates customers will be permitted to carry only one power bank that falls under specific conditions, though they can’t use it on board to charge m
obile devices or hook it up to the aircraft’s power supply. The gadge
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ts have to also be stored in areas easily accessible to cabin crew so that flight attendants can quickly respond in the event of a fire.
Dubai’s flag carrier already banned pagers and walkie-talkies on its aircraft last year.
Photograph: An Airbus SE A380-800 Emirates plane sits at Toronto
Pearson International Airport (YYZ) in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, on Monday, July 22, 2019. Photo credit: Brent Lewin/Bloomberg