Lufthansa has announced new rules, banning "powerbanks" and...

Lufthansa has become the first European airline to ban the use of portable chargers (powerbanks) on its aircraft.

This is because lithium-ion batteries, which are found in portable chargers, can pose a serious fire hazard if damaged, defective, misused, or old.

Over the past year, dozens of airlines around the world, including major carriers like Emirates and Cathay Pacific, have introduced bans on portable chargers with varying degrees of strictness of regulations and enforcement.

The introduction of these measures was prompted by an incident in which a portable charger caused a fire that engulfed and destroyed a passenger plane in South Korea in January 2025. Now the German airline Lufthansa has joined this initiative.

Starting Thursday, Lufthansa passengers are prohibited from charging electronic devices, such as mobile phones or tablets, using portable chargers during flights. This includes charging the charger itself via the aircraft's power supply.

Additionally, chargers are no longer allowed in overhead compartments. Instead, they must be carried on the body or stored in a seat pocket, or in the carry-on under the seat in front of the passenger, and are still prohibited in checked baggage.

The Lufthansa group includes the companies Swiss International Air Lines, Austrian Airlines, Brussels Airlines, Air Dolomiti, Edelweiss Air, Eurowings, Discover Airlines, SunExpress and ITA Airways, and this ban applies to all of them./Indeksonline/