Indonesia imposes restrictions on power bank in flights

APD NEWS

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By APD writer Maverick

JAKARTA, March 14 (APD) - In a bid to ensure flight safety, Indonesian authorities imposed recently restrictions on the carrying of portable lithium battery, or power bank, into the plane or the cabin, banning passengers to connect power bank to electronic device during flights.

Indonesia Transportation Minister Budi Karya Sumadi said the restriction on power bank in Indonesian fights was referred to regulations initially imposed by International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) following a power bank fire in a Chinese flight’s cabin earlier this month.

The minister asked national flight consumers to abide by the new regulation and understand that it was aimed at addressing flight safety.

“Aren’t we want to be par with countries with excellent safety levels? We follow the international regulation, hoping for people’s understanding regarding this issue. We would find other solution to make people stay connected and comfortable during flights,” the minister said here on Tuesday.

He added that among the considered solutions was installing free charging facilities.

He said that his ministry has issued the official notice related to power bank restrictions on power bank that has already extended to domestic airlines operating in the country.

Through the notice, the authorities allow passengers to bring in power banks with maximum capacity of 100 Watt-hour into the cabin. For the power banks with capacities of up to 160 Watt-hour, the passengers need to get approval from the airlines to put them in the luggages.

For power banks with capacities of more than 160 Watt-hour, the authorities strictly bans those things to be put either in the cargo or in the cabin.

The notice was applied for domestic and international airlines serving fights in the country and flights which departing from any of Indonesian airports. Flight crews were also entitled to the regulation.

Passengers were obliged to declare their power banks to airlines’ attendants during the check in process.

Indonesian airlines have applied the new regulation into their flights at present.

Senior Manager Public Relations at Indonesia’s state-run airlines Garuda Indonesia Ikhsan Rosan said that restrictions on power banks in the airlines’ flights was based on the notice issued by the ministry.

He added that power bank devices allowed to be brought into the cabin was the ones with maximum capacity of 100 Watt-hour, has maximum voltage of 5 volts.

“Each passenger was allowed to take maximum of 2 power banks in the cabin,” he said.

(ASIA PACIFIC DAILY)