E-cigarettes—or any other kind of battery-powered smoking device—are not allowed in any checked baggage, according to an update to ICAO’s latest technical instructions for the safe transport of dangerous goods. Recharging the devices in aircraft cabins is also prohibited.
“Several incidents have been reported involving e-cigarette heating elements being accidentally activated and resulting in fires in checked baggage,” according to Olumuyiwa Benard Aliu, ICAO’s council president. ICAO first advised its member states of electronic smoking device safety issues in December 2014, when they were encouraged to remind airline passengers to carry such devices in the cabin and not in checked baggage so potential fires could be more easily detected and extinguished. Details of the ICAO working group’s report are available online.