The things you should never pack in your carry-on bag

Think your carry-on is just a bag full of holiday essentials? Think again. Airlines see it as a potential rolling fire hazard, odour bomb or weapon of mass irritation. From lithium batteries that might explode inflight to coconuts that just might double as incendiary devices, the list of no-fly items is longer and weirder than you’d think. Here’s what not to pack unless you fancy a showdown with security.

The battery blues

The lithium batteries that power our smartphones, cameras and laptops are a fire hazard. If they’re stored in the hold and they erupt in flames, the aircraft is doomed. Therefore, they must be carried in the cabin.

Australia’s Civil Aviation Safety Authority bans lithium-ion batteries with a capacity greater than 160Wh, except for mobility aid batteries. That’s a common limit for most countries but some airlines, for example Singapore Airlines, apply a lower maximum of 100Wh. Even the higher figure rules out E-scooters, hoverboards and removable lithium batteries for E-bikes.

Power banks are usually within the allowable limit but the rating needs to be engraved on the device. If not, you risk losing it at a security checkpoint. In January 2025, an Air Busan Airbus was destroyed by a fire blamed on a power bank stored in an overhead locker. In response, many airlines have slapped a blanket ban on the inflight use and charging of power banks. From October 1, Emirates requires power banks to be stored in the seat pocket or under the seat in front.

One Traveller reader recently reported having an AirTag removed from their check-in luggage when exiting New Zealand. The AirTag is powered by a CR2032 3V lithium battery, and is potentially a fire hazard if damaged, short-circuited or exposed to extreme temperatures but the chances of that happening are extremely remote. If airlines banned AirTags from checked luggage, they’d be useless as a travel aid.

In one of the dumbest ever airline safety plays, in March 2017, under the first Trump administration, the Department of Homeland Security required incoming passengers from 10 airports in Muslim-majority countries in the Middle East and north Africa to stow their laptops and tablets in their checked luggage rather than in their carry-ons. The ban was prompted by concerns that explosives could be concealed in larger electronic devices. The directive was lifted after a few months but in the meantime, even the remote possibility of one of those devices causing a fire in the hold caused shudders among airline safety experts.

What is officially banned from aircraft

The bible of what can’t be taken on board aircraft is the International Air Transport Association’s Dangerous Goods Register. At 1039 pages, it’s a head-hurting read. The index alone is five pages long, and while few passengers are likely to be toting explosives, corrosives or radioactive isotopes, one curious item on the list is the coconut. Since coconut meat has a high oil content, it’s highly combustible and therefore constitutes a fire hazard, forbidden either as hand luggage or in checked-in luggage. It’s actually copra, dried coconut meat, that’s the problem, but the ban applies to coconuts generally. It mostly affects air passengers in India, where flyers sometimes carry coconuts as a sacred item that has been ritually blessed by a Hindu priest.

Self-heating meals, known as Meals Ready to Eat, are another curious item banned as a fire hazard. These are field rations distributed to military personnel, especially those in the US military. Since they have a self-heating element, airlines don’t allow them on board.

Caution is required for anyone carrying cremation ashes. Check with your airline. You’ll want to transport the remains in your carry-on, but since the ashes might be in a metal container that can’t be scanned, they might need to be in a plastic or some other container that can generate an image on the scanner.

Food fails

Durian is a definite no-fly item, banned from most Asian carriers. Eating the pungent fruit even pre-fight might cause offence. In September, a Chinese family purchased 5.5 kg of durian in Thailand shortly before their flight home to China, but at the airport in Chiang Mai, they were told the fruit would not fly. Rather than binning the lot, the family divided the fruit among themselves and set to work. When they boarded, so noxious were the after-effects that they apologised to their fellow passengers.

Cheese might be another no-go item. I found this out as I was about to board a British Airways flight out of Paris for London with a cargo of brie, Epoisses and a couple more cheese delights. Although it was in a vacuum-sealed bag, security said “Non”, but the agent did look sympathetic.

While not forbidden, some items should not be taken on board unless you really want to annoy your fellow passengers. Bring your own food by all means, but you’ll be spectacularly unpopular if your meal includes raw fish, century eggs, sauerkraut or kimchi. Ditto for shrimp paste and Stinking Bishop, a British washed-rind cheese that lives up to the name. Any food that requires dipping, slurping or which scatters crumbs like dandruff is better left for the after-flight party.

Alcohol is fine, but not for personal consumption. You can’t BYO and chug-a-lug your own booze.

From Miss Manners’ book of cabin etiquette crimes

Some everyday items are best not deployed in the tight confines of an economy cabin. This is not the ideal place for personal grooming. Hair brushing, fine and good, but servicing the nails is not when it involves clippers or nail polish remover, the fumes of which are horrific. Dental floss, ditto, just don’t, and the same goes for unmuted videos, games and movies on your smartphone or tablet. Headphones, please.