The number of lithium battery devices found in airline hold luggage has nearly doubled in a year – and with the summer holidays beginning in Scotland this week, the Civil Aviation Authority is urgently warning passengers not to pack power banks or vapes in checked bags.
Lithium battery fires are now the number one safety risk to aircraft, according to the regulator. The average person carries four lithium-powered devices on a flight, and the batteries can store huge amounts of energy in a small space. If they overheat or are defective, a fire can spread quickly and is hard to control.
“Lithium battery fires are top aircraft safety risk as device finds in hold bags nearly double in a year.”
In 2024, 316 incidents of devices with lithium batteries detected in hold bags were reported to UK authorities. In 2025, that rose to 643. Reports of devices overheating or malfunctioning also nearly doubled in the same year, from 123 to 206. The CAA says around two lithium battery incidents now occur each week.
Most problems happen in the cabin, where crew can deal with them. But if a fire starts in the hold, it may not be discovered until too late. Removing bags from the hold causes delays, and planes can be diverted. Last month an EasyJet flight was forced to divert to Rome because a power bank had been packed in the hold. In October, video was widely shared of flames belching from the overhead storage compartment of an Air China flight, reportedly caused by a lithium battery.
Tim Alderslade, chief executive of Airlines UK, described the risk as a “growing challenge” as people take more electronic devices. “Whilst pilots and cabin crew are trained to deal with any situation,” he said, “the best outcome is always prevention, which starts when passengers pack their bags.”
Giuseppe Capanna, a product safety engineer at the campaigning charity Electrical Safety First, said lithium batteries carry enormous amounts of energy.
The CAA believes many passengers still do not know the rules: mobile phones, vapes and power banks must go in the cabin; only two power banks per person are allowed, and they must never be charged onboard; laptops that are checked in must be turned off completely.