The queue at security snaked ahead of me as I fumbled with my rucksack, the familiar weight of my laptop and power bank suddenly feeling heavier. That small moment of doubt is exactly what the UK Civil Aviation Authority wants to prevent this summer. Their latest guidance cuts through the usual pre-holiday chaos with a clear message: get your lithium batteries right, or risk turning a smooth departure into an expensive delay.
I had always assumed the rules were just another layer of bureaucracy. Yet the numbers tell a different story. Incidents involving lithium batteries happen on UK flights at an average rate of two per week. Reports of devices found in checked baggage nearly doubled between 2024 and 2025, rising from 316 to 643 cases. Overheating or malfunctioning devices jumped from 123 to 206 in the same period. Around 36 percent of travellers still have no idea of the danger they are creating by burying these items in their hold luggage.
The reality is sobering when you picture it. A fire in the hold cannot be tackled the way it can in the cabin. That is why the CAA insists passengers must carry items containing lithium batteries, such as mobile phones, power banks and vapes, in their cabin baggage only. Power banks in particular have no place in checked luggage. You can take a maximum of two, and you must not charge them onboard the aircraft.
Pack right for a safe flight.
Those four words from Giancarlo Buono, Director of Aviation Safety at the UK Civil Aviation Authority, stayed with me as I repacked my own bag last year. Laptops placed in checked baggage must be switched off completely. The average holidaymaker carries four lithium-powered devices. Ninety-two percent travel with a mobile phone, 55 percent with a laptop and 49 percent with a power bank. The risks are not abstract.
Get it wrong and the consequences are immediate. Bags can be pulled off the aircraft, leading to significant flight delays or even diversions. In the busy summer period, when families are juggling excited children, last-minute snacks and boarding passes, these disruptions ripple through entire days of carefully planned leave. The CAA's message is not about more rules for rules' sake. It is about taking personal responsibility so everyone else can enjoy their trip without your oversight costing them time and money.
Strong rights when the unexpected happens
Beyond the batteries, the CAA has also set out clear consumer travel advice for summer 2026. UK passengers benefit from some of the strongest passenger rights in the world. Disruptions directly linked to the situation in the Middle East are likely to be treated as extraordinary circumstances. That means fixed compensation payments may not apply, but airlines must still offer re-routing, care and refunds where the rules allow.