Travelling with LiPo Batteries

andreweio1 · Jun 5, 2015

Hi All,

I have just flown from the UK to Australia with my I1 and wanted to share some advise.

As you may well know there are issues with travelling with LiPo batteries and each airline has a different policy but in the main the TB 47 batteries which are under the 100wah limit are easier to travel with.

In advance of your trip I strongly recommend that you contact the airline via their website and get an email from them confirming that you allowed to fly with the batteries in you carry on luggage.

I arrived at Heathrow and was searched and called over by security after they had scanned the batteries and were not going to allow me to proceed with them as they had never seen them before. It was only after showing them the email and them subsequently calling the airline that they let me proceed.

So get a confirmation letter and all will be fine,

amkorp · Jun 6, 2015

you really don't need a confirmation email from the airline.

Easier just to check the terms of service and carry on guidelines for the airline you are travelling with. Each of them will have a section that outlines their rules regarding battery transport. Print that out or save it to your phone and everything will be gravy.

Mike Ellgood · Jun 6, 2015

I thought the batteries were Lithium ion not Lipo polymer Which is a lot safer and not so unstable

Lucas · Jun 6, 2015

Our batteries usually cannot be found in ToS and guidelines. I recommend to have a copy of IATA guidelines (page 12) http://www.iata.org/whatwedo/cargo/dgr/Documents/lithium-battery-guidance-document-2015-en.pdf and to email the airline in question beforehand to get confirmation.

And by the way its not only batteries. Dubai for example also checks for multiple charger / USB / XLR audio cables, and will confiscate them if not verbally authorized by airline supervisor (FlyDubai in our case).

andreweio1 · Jun 11, 2015

@amkorp sorry but you do please read my next post and you will see why

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andreweio1 · Jun 11, 2015

So travelling back from Tasmania yesterday thought Australia and Dubai to London with I1 batteries as hand baggage had to be checked through security each time.

In Australia all was fine, arrived in Dubai and was stopped by security as they did not like the batteries and wanted to confiscate them. I showed them the letter with permission from Qantas but they did not care saying it's was a security restricting not an airline restriction.

After a long discussion and showing the letter from Qantas they still refused. I had to go back to Emirates airline customer services ( as agents for Qantas in Dubai) and explain that I had permission and was allowed to travel with the batteries.

Emirates staff agreed that both they and Qantas allow the transport of batteries but airport security is not under their control and as such they could not affect securities decision

I had to leave the batteries with Emirates customer services and after numerous debates about how I had cleared with all parties and what else could I do to get permission there was no answer

When I boarded the plane I was called by the purser who said that they had got the batteries through but did not know how to deal with the situation in the future

I have written to both Qantas and Emirates to request how this can be resolved for future flights and await there reply - if any

So don't think that just because you have seen that you can carry batteries on a website or that you have letter from the airline you will get to your destination with them!

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jon b · Jun 11, 2015

Mike Ellgood said:
I thought the batteries were Lithium ion not Lipo polymer Which is a lot safer and not so unstable

incorrect. All DJI batteries for the flight systems are Lipos

The Editor · Jun 11, 2015

jon b said:
incorrect. All DJI batteries for the flight systems are Lipos

Absolutely correct.

amkorp · Jun 12, 2015

andreweio1 said:
So travelling back from Tasmania yesterday thought Australia and Dubai to London with I1 batteries as hand baggage had to be checked through security each time.

In Australia all was fine, arrived in Dubai and was stopped by security as they did not like the batteries and wanted to confiscate them. I showed them the letter with permission from Qantas but they did not care saying it's was a security restricting not an airline restriction.

After a long discussion and showing the letter from Qantas they still refused. I had to go back to Emirates airline customer services ( as agents for Qantas in Dubai) and explain that I had permission and was allowed to travel with the batteries.

Emirates staff agreed that both they and Qantas allow the transport of batteries but airport security is not under their control and as such they could not affect securities decision

I had to leave the batteries with Emirates customer services and after numerous debates about how I had cleared with all parties and what else could I do to get permission there was no answer

When I boarded the plane I was called by the purser who said that they had got the batteries through but did not know how to deal with the situation in the future

I have written to both Qantas and Emirates to request how this can be resolved for future flights and await there reply - if any

So don't think that just because you have seen that you can carry batteries on a website or that you have letter from the airline you will get to your destination with them!

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

As you clearly stated in your post, this was an airport security issue and not an airline issue.

I've flown through Dubai and Sharjah airports more times than I can count and I've had no issues with phantom or inspire batteries and I've never printed or gotten advance permission from airlines before travelling.