The UK Civil Aviation Authority has launched a summer safety campaign with a message that is equal parts serious and gently exasperated: please stop putting your power banks in your checked luggage.
The regulator estimates that more than 100 million batteries may be incorrectly packed each year, creating a fire risk it warns could be “impossible to contain” if it takes hold in the cargo bay. With more than 60 million passengers expected to fly from UK airports this summer, the CAA is urging travellers to “pack right for a safe flight”, a slogan that sounds cheerful until you realise lithium-battery incidents are now happening roughly twice a week on aircraft.
The advice itself is refreshingly simple. Keep phones, vapes and power banks in your hand luggage. Never charge a power bank onboard, even if your phone is clinging to its last 2%. And if your laptop is going in the hold, turn it off completely, because sleep mode does not count.
The regulator’s tone is firm but polite, the aviation equivalent of a raised eyebrow. “Flying is by far the safest way to travel, and we want to keep it that way,” said Giancarlo Buono, the CAA’s Director of Aviation Safety. “Don’t put your batteries in your checked bag. Take them into the cabin with you.” The reasoning is straightforward: in the cabin, crew can spot and tackle an overheating device within seconds, whereas a fire that starts unseen in the hold is far harder to detect and bring under control. The CAA’s own guidance on portable electronic devices sets out exactly which items belong where.
The data behind the campaign is striking. Reports of overheating or malfunctioning devices nearly doubled between 2024 and 2025, following a 98% year-on-year increase the previous year. Meanwhile, cases of battery-powered devices being packed into the hold rose by 91% in 2025, despite the fact that 92% of travellers fly with a mobile phone and nearly half carry a power bank.
On a full Airbus A380, that adds up to more than 2,000 lithium-powered devices in the cabin alone, enough to make even the calmest safety officer reach for a strong cup of tea. It is also a reminder that the hold is no place for sensitive electronics at the best of times, fire risk or not.
Airlines and airports are squarely behind the campaign, with Virgin Atlantic, Heathrow and Airlines UK all stressing that prevention is far easier than dealing with a mid-air battery fire. As Tim Alderslade, chief executive of Airlines UK, put it: “Electronic devices like tablets, power banks and vapes belong in your hand luggage, not the hold”, a line that may well become the unofficial motto of the summer getaway.
For frequent flyers, the rules are worth committing to memory, not least because getting it wrong can mean a device confiscated at security before you even reach the gate. International guidance points the same way: IATA’s advice on travelling safely with lithium batteries confirms that spare batteries and power banks should always travel in the cabin, individually protected against short circuits.
The message, then, is clear. Pack smart, pack safe, and resist the urge to bury your vape beneath your flip-flops. Your fellow passengers, and the cabin crew, will thank you for it.
