Due to cases of spontaneous ignition, short-circuiting and fires, there are special rules around bringing lithium batteries on airplanes. Seeing as many canister lights (used in technical and cave diving) run on lithium batteries, there’s a good chance these regulations will affect how you travel with your canister light.
Restrictions
Restrictions around lithium batteries can sometimes be problematic when traveling with canister lights. Airport security doesn’t come across canister lights on a daily basis and won’t always know what to do when one shows up on the x-ray. Because they might not know the rules (and will err on the side of caution), you will have to make sure that you do.
Airline baggage policies mention different categories of lithium batteries:
- Electronic devices with non-removable lithium batteries (such as laptops)
- Spare or removable lithium batteries
These categories each have their own restrictions on whether you can have them in your checked bag or your carry-on, and what maximum capacity a battery is allowed to have.
Which category your light falls under doesn’t really matter though; you’re probably going to want to pack your canister light in your carry-on;
- When airport security gets confused while inspecting your carry-on bag, at least you will be there to unconfuse them (and make sure your canister light ends up on board with you)
- When airport security gets confused while inspecting your checked bag, it will be long after you’ve checked in the bag. You won’t be there to stop them from chucking it in the bin, never to be seen or heard from again.
Always pack your canister light in your carry-on and be sure to know the rules, because airport security won’t.
The rules
Airline associations such as the FAA and the EASA seem to have recommendations for restrictions involving lithium batteries on board, but generally the airlines all have their own policies. The airlines’ policies are pretty much all variations of the same set of rules, and if you stick to the following then you should be good:
- under 100wH*: almost always allowed in checked bags (bad idea), always in carry-on
- 100–160wH: max 2 batteries** and only in carry-on; some airlines require prior approval
- over 160wH: not allowed***
* Battery capacity in most airline policies is expressed in wH (Watt-hours; the number of Amps multiplied by the battery voltage). You can find the amount of wH on your light’s canister or on the product-page of the manufacturer.
** Restrictions are on a per-battery (not per-canister) basis. A canister containing 2 batteries of 110wH and 85wH counts as 2x <160wH (allowed), not as 1x(110+85)=190wH (which would not be allowed).
*** Commercially-available brands are unlikely to make a >160wH dive light because, well, divers tend to travel. Making a light people can’t fly with doesn’t make a lot of sense. If you own a commercial canister light, then it’s probably under 160wH.
Pre-approval
The following airlines require you to give prior notice* when bringing anything lithium >100vH:
- Aeroflot
- Air Canada (approval required by “Air Canada airport agents”)
- Air China
- Air Europa
- Air France
- Air Malta
- American Airlines
- Asiana Airlines
- Austrian Airlines
- Avianca
- China Southern Airlines
- Emirates
- Ethiopian Airlines
- EVA Air
- Garuda Indonesia
- Iberica
- Jetstar
- KLM
- LuftHansa
- Malaysia Airlines
- Norwegian
- Philippine Airlines
- Qantas
- Shenzhen Airlines
- Swiss
- Vietnam Airlines
- Virgin Australia (“must be declared at check-in”)
- Vueling
- Wizz Air
As of August 19, 2022, the following airlines do not** require you to notify them beforehand:
- Aer Lingus
- Air Asia
- Air New Zealand
- All Nippon Airways
- British Airways (printout of restrictions-page required)
- Cathay Pacific Airways
- Delta
- EasyJet
- JAL/Japan Airlines
- JetBlue
- Korean Air
- Qatar Airways
- RyanAir
- Singapore Airlines
- Thai Airways
- Turkish Airlines
- United Airlines
- Virgin Atlantic
* Prior notice/approval: a phonecall >24hrs beforehand usually suffices.
** Verify the above information yourself. If any of it causes you trouble then don’t feel free to drop me a line.
IMPORTANT: Arrange pre-approval with the airline operating the first airplane you step into after airport security. For example:
| You buy a ticket from: | Your flight: | You need to get pre-approval from: |
|---|---|---|
| Air Canada | leg 1 (Air Canada) leg 2 (Lufthansa) |
Air Canada |
| Air Canada | leg 1 (Lufthansa) leg 2 (Air Canada) |
Lufthansa |
| British Airways | leg 1 (British Airways) (security checkpoint upon entering US) leg 2 (American Airlines) |
both British Airways & American Airlines |
Bonus: How to pack it
Here’s how to make sure your light-head gets to Truuk Lagoon unscathed after your 13-leg flight:
- Buy a canister light with a travel case
- or buy a travel case for your canister light
- Pad your carry-on suitcase with foam rubber
- Or just buy a bunch of hand-towels and an oven mitten:
