Power bank fire warning on flights as summer holidays begin

Flight passengers are being warned not to pack power banks or vapes in their hand luggage ahead of the summer holiday travel season in England.

According to the aviation regulator, the risk of fire caused by lithium batteries is now the number one safety risk on planes, as the number of devices found in carry-on bags is expected to double in a year.

According to the Civil Aviation Authority (CA), the average person now takes four different lithium-powered devices on a flight.

People are being reminded to get their devices in storage ahead of the school summer holidays in Scotland, which start earlier this week.

The batteries can store large amounts of energy in a small space and are now used in many electronic devices including laptops, vapes, power banks, mobile phones and smart watches.

They are incredibly useful and versatile. But if the batteries are overheated or defective, it can cause a fire, which spreads quickly and is difficult to control.

In the year In 2024, 316 incidents of devices with lithium batteries found in checked bags were reported to UK authorities. It will rise to 643 by 2025.

Reports of devices overheating or malfunctioning doubled from 123 to 206 in the same year.

Most of these issues occur in the cabin where the staff can handle the situation, but the concern is that if this happens in the hold, the problem may not be discovered until it is too late to handle it.