Power‑bank rules tighten on flights

Singapore Airlines is tightening the rules on one of modern travel’s most ordinary objects. Starting on April 15, 2026, passengers on Singapore Airlines flights can carry no more than two power banks, and they will not be allowed to use those batteries to charge devices during the flight or recharge the batteries from the plane’s power supply. The airline says the move follows updated guidance from the International Civil Aviation Organization and Singapore’s civil aviation regulator. (singaporeair.com, caas.gov.sg) That sounds like a fussy packing rule until you look at what has changed underneath it. ICAO introduced new restrictions on March 27, 2026, aimed specifically at power banks, after aviation authorities concluded that the old rules were not keeping up with the number of lithium batteries people now bring on board. The new guidance limits passengers to two power banks, bans charging them from the aircraft, and pushes airlines to keep them out of overhead bins, where a smoldering battery can hide for too long. (icao.int, iata.org, iaa.ie) The reason is not mysterious. A power bank is just a dense block of lithium-ion cells with enough stored energy to start a serious fire if it shorts, is crushed, or overheats. The FAA warns that all lithium-ion batteries are capable of thermal runaway, a chain reaction that can produce intense heat, smoke, and flames. That is why power banks have long been banned from checked baggage in the first place. If one fails, the cabin is the only place where crew can see it and act fast. (faa.gov, iata.org) Airlines did not arrive at this point because of one abstract safety review. They got there because batteries keep catching fire on airplanes. The FAA’s incident database logs smoke, fire, and extreme-heat events involving passenger devices and battery packs, including cases that forced planes back to the gate. In January 2025, an Air Busan Airbus A321 burned on the ground in Busan before takeoff, and South Korean investigators later said the most likely trigger was a short circuit inside a portable battery pack. (faa.gov, ajupress.com, abc.net.au) Once that risk is easy to picture, the airline rules stop looking arbitrary. Cathay Pacific barred passengers in 2025 from using power banks in flight and from storing them in overhead compartments. Emirates followed with its own in-flight ban later that year. Singapore Airlines is now folding the same logic into a stricter limit that matches the new international baseline. (insideflyer.com, emirates.com, singaporeair.com) For travelers, the practical change is simple and annoying in exactly the way safety rules usually are. A power bank is no longer just a gadget you toss into a backpack. It is now treated more explicitly as a controlled battery item, with limits on how many you can bring, where you can store them, and whether you can use them at all once the cabin door closes. On Singapore Airlines, that means two power banks at most, carried in the cabin, kept out of checked bags and overhead bins, with no in-flight charging from them after 12:01 a.m. Singapore time on April 15. (singaporeair.com, singaporeair.com)