Power banks have gone from handy travel extra to near-essential gear, but airlines are increasingly treating them as a fire risk rather than a convenience. Korean Air and four affiliated carriers are the latest to clamp down, banning passengers from using portable batteries in the cabin while still allowing them to be carried on board. The move tightens a global trend toward stricter lithium battery rules and will reshape how tech-dependent travelers plan long‑haul flights.
The new restrictions do not outlaw power banks outright, but they sharply limit when and how they can be used in flight. For anyone used to topping up a phone or laptop from takeoff to landing, the policy shift is a warning that battery safety, not passenger convenience, is now setting the rules at 35,000 feet.
What exactly Korean Air and its affiliates are changing
The core change is simple: passengers on Korean Air and four other Hanjin Group airlines will no longer be allowed to use power banks or other portable batteries during the flight. Korean Air Lines Co, which is South Korea’s flag carrier, and its sister brands Asiana Airlines, Jin Air, Air Busan and Air Seoul are aligning on a single rule that bans in‑flight charging from these devices while still permitting them in carry‑on bags within existing capacity limits, a shift confirmed in SEOUL and reiterated in guidance that lists Korean Air and four affiliate airlines, namely Asiana Airlines, Jin Air, Air Busan and Air Seoul, as covered by the new policy from late January in the Korean Air and group. Once brought on board, power banks must remain unused, with cabin crew instructed to enforce the ban at the gates and on board aircraft, a point underscored in internal briefings that stress that carrying power banks into the cabin is still allowed but only within the long‑standing cap of a capacity of 100Wh or less and in limited quantities per passenger, as detailed in updated carrying rules.
Behind the scenes, the decision is being framed as a unified safety stance by Five Hanjin Group airlines rather than a one‑off move by a single carrier. Internal communications attributed to TOP editor Jeon Jongheon, identified as Jeon Jongheon cap@mk.co.kr with an Input time stamp that includes the figure 37 and an Updated note, describe how Five Hanjin Group carriers will join this ban going forward and emphasize that the restriction applies to any supplementary battery with a capacity of 100Wh or less that would previously have been used freely in the cabin, a detail captured in the same Five Hanjin Group briefing. Executives have publicly acknowledged the emotional stakes, with one safety manager quoted as saying, “If smoke starts coming out, your heart skips a beat,” a remark used to justify a more conservative approach to lithium cells in crowded cabins and cited in internal safety notes that also restate the 100Wh threshold in the Jan update.
How the ban will work in practice on board
From a passenger’s perspective, the most important nuance is that power banks are still allowed in the cabin, but they must be stored and not used. Once on board, travelers on Korean Air, Asiana Airlines, Jin Air, Air Busan and Air Seoul will be told to keep portable chargers within arm’s reach, either on their person, in the seat‑back pocket or under the seat in front, rather than in overhead bins, so that any sign of overheating can be spotted quickly, according to operational guidance summarised in a note on how Korean Air, Four Other Hanjin Airlines Ban In‑Flight Use of power banks that stresses that keeping devices close helps crew intervene before a minor incident can escalate into a serious incident, as laid out in the Once guidance. The same operational documents explain that power banks may still be brought into the cabin within existing limits on capacity and quantity, but they must not be placed in overhead storage bins where smoke or heat might go unnoticed, a point reinforced in safety circulars that show an aircraft cabin and spell out that Power banks should be kept where crew can see them, as noted in the Power advisory.
The ban is comprehensive in terms of device types. The new regulation bans the use of portable batteries used to charge any electronic devices, including cellphones, tablet PC, laptops and gaming consoles, so passengers will not be able to plug a phone into a power bank even briefly once the aircraft doors are closed, a detail spelled out in updated passenger notices that describe how the rule will apply on board aircraft on Thursday and beyond in the Jan circular. Written guidance from the group’s safety team, marked as Written with a timestamp ending in 54 and later labeled Updated, explains that Starting Monday passengers cannot use supplementary batteries aboard flights operated by the Hanjin Group list of carriers, and that crew will be trained to identify and confiscate any device that is actively charging another gadget in flight, as captured in the Written notice.
Why airlines say power banks are becoming a safety flashpoint
Airlines have long treated lithium batteries as a fire risk, but the surge in high‑capacity power banks has sharpened those concerns. Almost all airlines have clarified that power banks must be carried on board and are prohibited from being checked in, and many now follow a tiered system where rated energy up to 100Wh is generally allowed in carry‑on, 100Wh to 160Wh may require approval, and rated energy > 160Wh is prohibited entirely, a framework summarized in passenger advisories that stress that Almost all carriers now treat large lithium packs as hazardous goods, with the rated energy > 160Wh: prohibited line highlighted in the Almost guidance. Technical explainers aimed at consumers break down the math, noting that Watt‑hours = (50,000 mAh × 3.7 V) ÷ 1,000, and that packs above certain thresholds are barred from checked baggage and sometimes from the cabin entirely according to airline regulations, a calculation laid out in a detailed FAQ titled Can You Bring Portable Chargers On a Plane? Rules to Know that warns that Recently there are a growing number of airlines banning to take power banks in certain configurations, as explained in the Can You Bring guide.
For carriers, the nightmare scenario is a thermal runaway event in a confined cabin. Safety briefings circulated to crew warn that there is Nothing worse than having an expensive power bank confiscated or potentially being denied boarding, but stress that this inconvenience is preferable to dangerous situations on board if a cell vents or catches fire, language echoed in a passenger‑facing post that frames the clampdown as a necessary trade‑off in the Nothing advisory. Industry‑wide explainers on New rules for 2026 note that Airlines worldwide are tightening power bank rules in 2026, including stricter enforcement of watt‑hour limits and outright bans on in‑flight use on some routes, and they frame the Korean Air decision as part of a broader pattern in which What travelers could once treat as a casual accessory is now subject to detailed screening and disclosure, as outlined in the New overview.
