Airlines have now barred passengers from carrying power banks and electronic cigarettes in their checked-in baggage.
“In the interest of safety and as mandated by the DGCA (Directorate General of Civil Aviation) Jet Airways will not permit carriage of power banks from any manufacturer to be carried in guests’ check in baggage on board all its flights.
However, guests may carry these charging devices in their cabin bags,” said a Jet Airways spokesperson.
An executive at another airline said the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security enforced the new rules a few weeks back. He didn’t however say this followed any global mandate neither a specific recent security or terror threat.
Interestingly, the opposite is true of dry cell batteries which are allowed to be carried checked-in baggage but not in cabin luggage.
Airlines in India, as in most countries, banned the carriage of the Note 7 aboard flights following reports of the device catching fire and formal stoppage of production of the device.
