Fire that broke out on Korean airliner earlier this year cited in reason for new regulations.

One of the great conveniences about modern travel is that there’s no longer a need to pack a bulky guidebook, multiple maps, a camera with spare film, and reading/listening material to keep yourself entertained on the plane ride to your destination. Nowadays, your phone can handle all that stuff for you but the tradeoff is that if your battery goes dead, you lose access to all of those things.

So if you’re getting ready for a big trip to Japan soon, there’s a pretty good chance that you’re bringing not only your phone with you, but a mobile battery/power bank too. If so, though, you’ll want to be aware of new rules regarding bringing such items onboard planes of Japan Airlines/JAL, ANA, and many other Japanese carriers.

The new rules were developed jointly by the Scheduled Airlines Association of Japan and the Japanese government’s Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport, and Tourism, who cited the incident that took place in January at South Korea’s Gimhae International Airport in which a fire broke out in an Air Busan airliner as it was preparing for takeoff, requiring an emergency evacuation and resulting in injuries to multiple passengers. The source of the fire was traced to a mobile battery inside a passenger’s carry-on bag which they had placed in an overhead bin.

To prevent such a situation from occurring, the new Scheduled Airlines Association of Japan/MLITT rules prohibit placing mobile batteries in overhead compartments. With mobile batteries already not allowed to be placed in checked luggage, this leaves carry-on luggage under passengers’ seats or seatback pockets as the only remaining places for them during flight, so that if a battery begins smoking or burning it can be more quickly noticed and dealt with by the cabin crew. In addition, if the battery is being used to charge another device or is itself being charged via onboard power outlets, the rules state that it should be in an accessible location where its current condition can be easily monitored.

The Scheduled Airlines Association of Japan consists of the following 19 airlines:
● Japan Airlines/JAL
● ANA
● Peach
● Jetstar
● Zipair
● NCA
● JTA
● JAC
● Air Do
● Air Japan
● Solaseed Air
● Starflyer
● ANA Wings
● J-Air
● Skymark Airlines
● FDA
● Spring Japan
● Ibex

It’s unclear whether the Scheduled Airlines Association of Japan’s authority extends to flights operated by its members for routes entirely outside of Japan, but at the very least the regulations will apply to international flights to/from Japan on those airlines, as well as domestic flights within Japan.

The new regulations go into effect July 8.

Source: Scheduled Airlines Association of Japan (1, 2) via Hachima Kiko
Top image: Pakutaso
● Want to hear about SoraNews24’s latest articles as soon as they’re published? Follow us on Facebook and Twitter!