The UK’s Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) says reports of lithium-ion devices overheating or malfunctioning on flights nearly doubled in a single year, rising from 123 incidents in 2024 to 206 in 2025. The regulator made the warning ahead of the school summer holidays, as airports brace for their busiest travel period of the year.
The CAA says lithium battery fires are now the number one safety risk to aircraft in UK aviation, and that around two such incidents are occurring every week. Power banks, in particular, are drawing scrutiny because their larger batteries pose a greater fire risk than the batteries found in phones or laptops.
CAA Figures Show Overheating Has Almost Doubled
The CAA’s data shows the problem growing on two separate fronts. Reports of lithium-powered devices being found packed in checked, or hold, luggage rose from 316 incidents in 2024 to 643 in 2025, more than doubling in a single year.
Separately, reports of devices actually overheating or malfunctioning during a flight rose from 123 to 206 over the same period, an increase of roughly two-thirds. Most of these overheating incidents happened in the cabin, where crew members could respond quickly, but the CAA’s deeper concern is what happens when one occurs out of sight in the hold.
- 2024: 316 devices found in hold luggage; 123 overheating or malfunction reports
- 2025: 643 devices found in hold luggage; 206 overheating or malfunction reports
The CAA also said the average passenger now carries four separate lithium-powered devices when they fly, a figure that includes phones, laptops, vapes, smartwatches, and power banks.
Hold Luggage is the Bigger Worry
A fire that breaks out in the cabin can usually be spotted and tackled almost immediately, since crew are trained to fight onboard fires using tools such as specialized extinguishers and heat-resistant containment bags. A battery fire in the cargo hold is a different problem entirely.
If a device overheats inside a checked bag, the fire may not be discovered until smoke or heat sensors trigger an alert in the cockpit, by which point the blaze could already be established.
Limited fire-suppression systems in the hold make it far harder for crew to intervene before the situation worsens, which is why lithium batteries have been barred from checked luggage for years even as the rule is still frequently broken.
Jonathan Nicholson, a CAA spokesperson, stressed that the rules around power banks are grounded in real risk rather than bureaucratic caution. Speaking to BBC News, he said the regulations are not “somebody being pedantic” or imposed “for the sake of it.”
He went on to describe the scale of the danger when these batteries do ignite. “These things, when they catch fire, they go – they really go – they are big, big issues and big fires,” Nicholson said. He added: “It is absolutely a rule that can make a difference.”
Why Power Banks Specifically Worry Regulators
Power banks pose a particular challenge compared with other lithium-powered devices. Giuseppe Capanna, a product safety engineer at the campaigning charity Electrical Safety First, explained that the same energy density that makes lithium batteries useful for recharging devices on the go also makes them dangerous when something goes wrong.
Unlike smartphones, power banks typically lack the same level of built-in safety monitoring. A breakdown published by Airline Ratings noted that, unlike a phone or laptop, a power bank contains only a battery with no active thermal management, no temperature sensors, and no software monitoring for unusual power draw, which means a fault can progress to a fire with very little early warning.
Real-world Incidents Driving the Warning
The CAA’s renewed warning follows a string of visible incidents that have shaken confidence in existing safety habits. In October, footage circulated widely online showing flames pouring out of an overhead storage compartment on an Air China flight, reportedly caused by a lithium battery.
Power bank incidents have also forced unscheduled diversions. In May, a EasyJet flight had to divert to Rome Fiumicino Airport after a passenger admitted partway through the journey that they had packed a power bank in their checked luggage rather than carrying it on board. The pilots diverted nearly four hours into the flight rather than risk continuing with a potential fire hazard stowed in the hold.
The most catastrophic recent example occurred outside the UK. In January 2025, a power bank caught fire in a passenger’s bag stored in an overhead locker aboard an Air Busan Airbus A321 as it prepared for departure at Gimhae Airport in South Korea. The fire spread before crew became aware of it, and although everyone evacuated safely via emergency slides, the aircraft was completely destroyed.
Current UK Rules for Flying with Power Banks
Passengers flying from the UK are expected to follow a specific set of rules designed to reduce the risk of an undetected fire. According to the CAA’s guidance, passengers should:
- Carry items such as mobile phones, vapes, and power banks in the cabin rather than in checked luggage.
- Limit themselves to no more than two power banks per flight.
- Never charge a power bank while on board the aircraft.
- Switch laptops off completely, rather than leaving them in sleep mode, if they must go in a checked bag.
The CAA believes a significant number of passengers remain unaware of these rules, despite efforts to publicize them, which is part of why the regulator is renewing its warning ahead of peak summer travel.
Airlines UK, the trade body representing British carriers, says the safety challenge is intensifying simply because passengers are carrying more electronics than ever. Tim Alderslade, the organization’s Chief Executive, described lithium battery incidents as a “growing challenge” tied to the rising number of devices people travel with.
He framed prevention as a shared responsibility between airlines and passengers. “Whilst pilots and cabin crew are trained to deal with any situation the best outcome is always prevention, which starts when passengers pack their bags,” Alderslade said.
How this Compares with Global Airline Rules
The CAA’s warning lands amid a broader, global tightening of power bank rules across the airline industry. The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) issued new guidance following the Air Busan fire, the rules now apply across all 193 ICAO member states, with airlines including Emirates, Qatar Airways, Singapore Airlines, Air India, Lufthansa, Cathay Pacific, and British Airways aligning their own policies accordingly.
Some carriers have gone further than the ICAO baseline. Lufthansa introduced a two-power-bank limit and an in-flight charging ban across its entire group, including Swiss, Austrian Airlines, and Brussels Airlines, while Southwest Airlines and Emirates have each restricted passengers to carrying just one power bank at a time. British Airways separately banned passengers from placing power banks in overhead lockers earlier this year, requiring that the devices remain within reach throughout the flight.