Another airline becomes latest to impose harsh restrictions on common item most of us carry on
There’s another frustrating thing to remember before you travel, as a major airline has implemented a new rule regarding a popular carry-on item.
It's often hard to keep up with what you can and can't take on a plane these days, and that's not even counting the discrepancy between airports when it comes to removing certain items from your bag through security.
It seems like the list of banned items is ever-increasing, leaving passengers either moving things to their hold luggage or leaving the item at home entirely.
One recent target for a number of airlines appears to be portable power banks and chargers, as several alarming cases have seen plane operators become more cautious than you might expect when it comes to the handy gadgets.
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As reported by The Independent, Lufthansa is the latest major airline to implement restrictions on both the number and type of portable chargers you can take on the plane, as well as when and where you can use them.
From January 15, 2026, you’re only able to take a maximum of two power banks per passenger on one of the airline's planes, and these must have a maximum power of 100 watt-hours. Anything over that has to be approved by the company ahead of time.
Additionally, passengers are now banned from using power banks during the flight itself, and you're not allowed to keep them in the overhead storage, instead having them either "on the passenger's person" or in luggage underneath your seat.
The likely motivation for this change revolves around the potential flammability of these devices, as a number have shown to malfunction, leaving people with acid burns and even setting things on fire.
This is understandably a major issue on the plane itself, and something an airline would want to avoid at all costs. Still, it’s likely to leave some passengers in a difficult situation if they've had delays, a layover, or are using their devices a lot during a longer flight.
A new statement from Swiss International Air Lines (SWISS), which is an airline within the Lufthansa group, indicates that "the new rules enhance safety on board for both passengers and crew members: with its lithium battery, a malfunctioning power bank is a potential fire risk."
It adds that these rules, while frustrating, have been implemented with "the latest recommendations from the EASA, FAA, IATA, and ICAO international aviation organizations."
You might want to pay more attention to the power level of your favored devices when traveling, as the limited nature of these power banks while on the plane could mean that you end up with a dead phone before you know it.