Thai Airways to ban Hoverboards from 21 December 2015

One of the hottest gifts for Christmas this year are the hoverboards, sometimes known as balance boards. When I was in MBK the other day, there were several shops selling these self-balancing vehicles and they were all allowing people to test them out. But, what these tourists probably didn’t know was that many airlines now ban them. This is because the lithium batteries are unstable and can cause fires. From today, 19th December, Malaysia Airlines will ban hoverboards onboard even if they don’t have batteries. THAI will follow with a ban on 21st December. 

The following is the statement released by Malaysia Airlines:

Malaysia Airlines will prohibit the carriage of small vehicles that are powered by lithium ion batteries in passenger checked and/or carry-on baggage for air travel, as they have been classified as “Dangerous Goods”. This restriction has been recommended to all operators by the International Air Transport Association (IATA) to ensure the safety of air travelers.

These small vehicles, or Personal Movement Devices (PMD) which include airwheel, solowheel, hoverboard, mini-segway, balance wheel and other self-balancing vehicles are considered fire hazards. Therefore, Malaysia Airlines would like to remind passengers that it prohibits the carriage of all such devices (with or without batteries) as checked–in or carry–on baggage. For Malaysia Airlines, the ruling comes into effect from 19 December 2015 at 00:01 (GMT+8 Malaysia time).

The press release from THAI has this to add:

It will be the passenger’s responsibility to dispose of the self-balancing vehicles prior to boarding. THAI cannot provide any storage due to possible fire risk.