Virgin Australia and Qantas will ban the use of portable power banks from next month following a string of international incidents.
Australian airlines will ban the use of portable power banks from next month following a string of international incidents, including a mid-air fire on a Virgin Australia flight in July.
From December 1, Virgin Australia passengers will be required to keep power banks within sight and easily accessible throughout the flight.
The devices cannot be used or charged on board, and passengers will be limited to two power banks, with larger units over 100 watt-hours requiring airline approval.
Qantas, QantasLink and Jetstar will introduce similar measures from December 15.
A Qantas spokeswoman confirmed passengers would also be limited to two power banks, each under 160 watt-hours, in cabin baggage.
Qantas, QantasLink and Jetstar will all ban the use of power banks from December 15. (ABC News: Billy Cooper)
The moves come amid growing concerns about the safety risks posed by lithium battery-powered devices.
Virgin Australia's chief operations officer Chris Snook said the changes aligned with international airline safety standards.
"Globally, more lithium battery-powered devices are now being carried by travellers, and while these items are generally safe when packed and handled appropriately, this move will minimise any potential risks associated with these devices," Mr Snook said.
The airlines said passengers would still be permitted to charge their devices on in-seat charging ports.
The Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) said it would soon release a report into the Virgin flight from Sydney to Hobart, on which a power bank caught fire in an overhead compartment in July.
A power bank caused a fire that destroyed an Air Busan plane this year. (Reuters)
The incident follows several recent international cases, including an Air China flight that made an emergency landing last month in Shanghai after a lithium battery caught fire.
An Air Busan plane was also destroyed earlier this year at South Korea's Gimhae Airport after a similar incident involving a power bank.
The ATSB said there had been five in-flight fires involving power banks on Australian or Australian-registered aircraft since 2016.
Flight Attendants Association of Australia (FAAA) federal secretary Teri O'Toole had been calling for tougher legislation on the use of the devices onboard.
"It's important passengers understand these are very dangerous items in an aircraft and to follow the rules airlines put in place. At the end of the day, it's flight attendants who have to fight the fire," Ms O'Toole said.
"The fact all the airlines are now aligning their policies is really positive. It means passengers get the same message and the same process regardless of who they fly with, and that consistency helps keep everyone safe."
Airlines tighten rules overseas
While international airlines, including Emirates, Cathay Pacific and Korean Air, all banned the use of power banks on flights this year, Australian carriers still allowed them, though rules varied.
Emirates was the latest airline to ban the use of power banks this month, also due to safety concerns.
"There has been a significant growth in customers using power banks in recent years, resulting in an increasing number of lithium battery-related incidents onboard flights across the wider aviation industry," the airline said.
An International Air Transport Association (IATA) passenger survey found 44 per cent of passengers travelled with a power bank, 84 per cent of travellers carried a phone and 60 per cent carried a laptop.
Dodgy power banks spark concern
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) said reported incidents involving lithium batteries jumped 92 per cent between 2020 and 2022.
Travellers were now carrying an average of four devices powered by lithium batteries, the regulator noted.
Power banks are prohibited in checked-in baggage. (ABC News)
Since 2020, the ACCC has issued 17 recalls of power banks, and warned that around 34,000 defective chargers may still be in use.
"Some consumers have suffered serious burn injuries, and some have had their property damaged because of power banks overheating and catching fire," ACCC deputy chair Catriona Lowe said.
Here is a breakdown of the new rules:
| Qantas / Jetstar / QantasLink | Virgin Australia | |
|---|---|---|
| Effective Date | December 15, 2025 | December 1, 2025 |
| On-board Use | Prohibited | Prohibited |
| Charging on Board | Prohibited, including in-seat USB/power ports | Prohibited; passengers may use in-seat power for other devices |
| Maximum Number of Power Banks | Two per passenger | Two per passenger |
| Maximum Capacity | 160 Wh per power bank | Up to 100 Wh unrestricted; 100–160 Wh require airline approval; >160 Wh prohibited |
| Storage | Seat pocket, under seat, or nearby overhead locker; smart bag batteries must be removed | Must be easily accessible (seat pocket, under seat, or on person); not in overhead locker |
| Checked Baggage | Prohibited | Prohibited |
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Comments
By aetherspawn 2025-11-213:393 reply The issue is that these power banks are often cheapo corporate gifts or bought out of vending machines, catering to the cheapest possible price and not certified to anything.
In this case they have crappy BMS that doesn’t have thermal sensors or even make sure the cells are balanced during charging, and no mechanical integrity so the cell can just get crushed and explode.
The solution is to require all consumer electronics with batteries to be certified (if carried on a plane or in the post), and part of that certification process needs to be mechanical; including crushing with normal levels of in-transit forces, and electrical testing; including charging the device at a high temperature.
By eternityforest 2025-11-218:141 reply Or better yet, create a new set of replaceable battery standards with multiple chemistry options, and certify the batteries.
Users should be able to choose LiFePo4/LTO/Sodium for peace of mind and reliability if they don't need normal lipo levels of capacity.
By aetherspawn 2025-11-219:181 reply It’s not that simple… the voltages are all different, and each chemistry has different charge and discharge rates, so this just makes the end product insanely complicated and expensive.
By eternityforest 2025-11-2117:17 We've already got programmable charging chips that can adapt to different chemistries, and they're already pretty cheap, and USB-C has proven that fancy voltage negotiation protocols can be done cheaply.
I swear the majority of UL and CE marked electronics on amazon are fraudulent. Honestly, I don't think certification is going to work, at least not with out a long term economic policy to onshore manufacture. There's just no practical system for verifying certification when the origin is obfuscated for the majority of our good, and produced outside of our regulatory system. We also just don't make these things in sufficient quantity, or economically enough to supplant the import market.
By aetherspawn 2025-11-220:15 I think the mistake here is not printing the registration number on the products themselves so that you can type it into the portal or whatever and look up what it’s supposed to look like. Like photo ID.
By burnt-resistor 2025-11-216:48 Yep. UL & CE certification to standard X. The lack of retail marketplace and manufacturing regulation enforcement are the problems that are fixable similar to lack of safety standards in automobiles in the US prior to 1966. Safety regs are written in blood and so people can winge and whine all they want about headaches, cost, red tape, and paperwork but too bad.
By polishdude20 2025-11-210:563 reply I would use a battery pack less if the outlets on the planes actually worked! On my last 4 flights I've had outlets completely disabled.
By zamadatix 2025-11-212:59 Or make the seatback USB solution a bit more modular and update it every 5 years. Nobody is bringing a toaster on board, they just need something more than a 5 Watt USB A port for their devices.
And when they do work, my North American two prong plug falls right out half of the time.
By trollbridge 2025-11-213:381 reply A trick (on U.S. airlines) is to plug in an overseas adapter (British style plugs seem to work pretty well for this purpose), since those prongs see far less use and still grip well.
By georgefrowny 2025-11-216:494 reply British plugs are just better anyway. The rectangular pins have far better contacts mechanically and electrically and they're arranged in a triangle so the plug can't wobble its way out.
It's really a very good design.
Indeed! Also:
- The outlets have shutters preventing access to the contacts, until the longer earth pin is inserted
- The live pins are on the bottom, making contact harder if it's partially pulled out. And the live pins have sleeved sections so even less live metal is exposed.
- The cable drop is at 90 degrees, typically causing less pull on the plug
By georgefrowny 2025-11-2119:32 Also when the cable is pulled out of the plug by force, the live disconnects first, then neutral, and only then earth.
You pay for it though, both in terms of extra manufacturing costs (presumably) and weight/bulk. Compare the north american apple usb-c power adapter to the british one:
https://store.storeimages.cdn-apple.com/1/as-images.apple.co...
https://store.storeimages.cdn-apple.com/1/as-images.apple.co...
By hexbin010 2025-11-2121:48 The lower power versions have collapseble pins though:
https://www.apple.com/uk/shop/product/mgtv4b/a/40w-dynamic-p... (the clonking sound is extremely satisfying!)
The high watt chargers are heavy regardless
Does that US version even stay in the socket given the weight?
Tbh it's pretty tiny price to pay. And 5 -pack of double sockets costs £13 btw! ($17 ish)
By ThePowerOfFuet 2025-11-2111:10 BS1363 is an abortion.
By dylan604 2025-11-213:12 That just sounds like another way of not working. Even if there is power, if the socket doesn’t hold the prongs, it’s not going to power your device.
You have to look up the maximum wattage for the given cabin configuration. I’ve found 30W to be about as high as I can go without it cutting out. Use a phone charger for your laptop.
This is where it’s helpful to have a multi-port charger where they’re not all high-draw.
IMO more important to go with something flat or light that won’t fall out under its own weight.
By wlesieutre 2025-11-214:062 reply Assuming this is USB-C ports, they're supposed to negotiate a supported power limit with the device you plug in. If the port is saying "I can deliver 60W" and then cutting out if you draw more than 30, there's something wrong with their chargers.
By rahimnathwani 2025-11-215:01 I'm assuming he's talking about the mains socket.
By btown 2025-11-214:10 There is something wrong with their chargers.
China bans non-certified power banks on their domestic flights, even if they're not in use. And the certification authority is China-specific, they don't care about UL or any others.
https://www.travelofchina.com/china-power-bank-ban-2025-xiao...
By kenny11 2025-11-221:02 I had this happen at the Shenzhen airport a few weeks ago. They confiscated my Apple MagSafe battery because it didn't have the CCC mark. From the looks of it, they were confiscating a lot of them.
It was a missed opportunity for someone to not have opened an approved power bank store just past security.
