Portable chargers used to be the ultimate travel no-brainer: throw one in your bag, breeze through security and happily top up your phone from check-in to touchdown.
Now, a growing number of airlines are quietly rewriting the rulebook. Concerns over lithium-ion battery fires in cramped cabins mean passengers are facing new limits on how many power banks they can carry, where they can store them and, crucially, whether they can actually use them mid-flight.
You can still fly with a portable charger on most airlines, but new safety rules mean how many you bring, where you pack them and whether you can actually use them in the air is becoming much more tightly controlled.
Why airlines are changing the rules with power banks
Lithium-ion batteries in power banks can overheat or catch fire if damaged, and fires are difficult to tackle in a confined aircraft cabin or hold.
Several incidents worldwide have pushed airlines and regulators to tighten rules on where portable chargers can be stored and whether they can be used during flights.
Can you take a power bank on a plane?
Most airlines still allow power banks on board, but they must go in carry-on luggage, not in checked bags or any luggage placed in the hold.
In general, power banks up to 100Wh are permitted in the cabin without prior airline approval, although usage rules (whether you can actually plug in) now vary by carrier.
New bans on using power banks in flight
Some airlines, including Emirates, Virgin Australia and SWISS, now ban using power banks to charge devices during the flight and also prohibit charging the power banks themselves via onboard USB ports.
Lufthansa Group has gone further by limiting passengers to a maximum of two power banks and banning their use or charging in flight, with some policies requiring them to be kept on your person, in the seat pocket or under-seat baggage rather than overhead lockers.
The UK Civil Aviation Authority allows spare lithium-ion batteries between 100Wh and 160Wh in carry-on only, with a maximum of two individually protected spares per person.
The CAA stresses that spare batteries and power banks should never go in checked baggage, must be protected against short circuits, and should be completely switched off rather than left in standby mode.
Rules in other countries and airlines
Airlines in Australia, Switzerland, the US, China, Taiwan, Thailand, South Korea and Singapore have introduced stricter rules, often banning in-flight use or charging of power banks while still allowing them in hand luggage.
Examples include Emirates allowing one clearly labelled power bank per passenger stored under the seat or in the seat pocket, Hong Kong’s authorities banning in-flight use after a cabin fire, and South Korea limiting passengers to five portable batteries up to 100Wh while banning anything above 160Wh.