Laptops only in cabin bags on flights soon?

NEW DELHI: Due to battery fire fears, keeping personal electronic devices (PEDs) like laptops in check-in bags is increasingly not going to be an option. Indian carriers, like many of their international counterparts, have begun 'recommending' that PEDs like phones and laptops be carried in hand bags. The recommendation could mean flyers being asked if there are laptops in check-in bags and then being told to transfer them to hand bags.

The reason-with rising incidence of batteries in PEDs catching fire, it is easier to control that situation when the bag is in the cabin instead of letting the fire go undetected in the cargo.

A Vistara spokesperson said, "Power banks are not permitted in checked-in baggage, and it is recommended that laptops and mobile phones also always be carried in hand baggage." A senior official of a leading airline, which did not want to be identified, said PEDs like laptops can be carried in only hand bags and not checked-in. "Their quantity should be for personal use and CISF decides about the quantity. Like if a flyer is taking a bag full of batteries then that will definitely raise doubt," this official said.


Other airlines also had the same to say but did not do so on record. Their reluctance stems from the fact that the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has so far not issued rules for the same. UN's International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) is examining whether big PEDs should be allowed in check-in bags.

The American Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has submitted results of some tests it conducted to ICAO, which conclude that fire in PED kept in cargo hold "could lead to loss of aircraft". Once ICAO, IATA or FAA takes a decision about carriage of PEDs like laptops in check-in bags, Indian authorities will have to follow the same.