What you cannot carry on a plane: prohibited items in cabin and hold bags

EU cabin bags: Attachment 4-C

Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2015/1998 of 5 November 2015 holds the EU list of articles passengers may not take into security restricted areas or on board. Attachment 4-C lists six categories, without prejudice to safety rules such as those on dangerous goods ¹. The European Commission says banned items must be surrendered at the checkpoint or packed in hold luggage ². The table summarises the list as published in 2015.

EU hold bags: Attachment 5-B

Attachment 5-B bans explosives and incendiary substances and devices from hold baggage. Its examples are ammunition, blasting caps, detonators and fuses, mines and grenades, fireworks and other pyrotechnics, smoke canisters and cartridges, and dynamite, gunpowder and plastic explosives ¹. The Commission tells travellers that items such as explosives, fireworks and ammunition may not be carried on board at all, in either bag ².

Liquids follow separate rules. The standard EU limit is containers of up to 100 ml in one transparent re-sealable bag of up to one litre ². See the liquids table on this site for airport by airport differences.

United Kingdom: selected items

GOV.UK publishes item by item tables for hand and hold luggage at UK airports. Security staff can refuse anything they consider dangerous, even if it is normally allowed ³. Its knife rule is broader than the EU wording. It bars knives with a sharp or pointed blade or a blade longer than 6 cm from hand luggage ⁴.

United States: TSA and federal rules

TSA says knives are not allowed in carry-on bags but may go in checked bags. The exception is knives with rounded blades and blunt edges without serration, such as butter knives, and plastic cutlery. Sharp items in checked bags should be sheathed or wrapped. A TSA officer makes the final decision at the checkpoint ⁸.

Federal regulations bar weapons, explosives and incendiaries from a passenger's person and accessible property once screening starts and in the sterile area. Law enforcement officers and other authorised people are exempt ⁹. A loaded firearm may not go in checked baggage. An unloaded firearm may be checked only if the passenger declares it to the airline, it is in a locked hard-sided container and only the passenger holds the key or combination. Ammunition may go in checked baggage, subject to hazardous materials rules ⁹.

Lithium batteries and power banks

Battery rules come from the ICAO Technical Instructions for the Safe Transport of Dangerous Goods by Air (Doc 9284). IATA's passenger guidance treats power banks as spare batteries, so they may travel in carry-on bags only. Spare batteries must be protected from short circuit, for example in retail packaging or with taped terminals ¹¹. The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) sets the same 100 Wh and 160 Wh thresholds and says many airlines apply stricter limits on power banks ¹⁰.

Power bank rules in 2025 and 2026

Regulators and airlines tightened power bank rules after a rise in battery fires and smoke events on aircraft. The Civil Aviation Administration of China banned power banks without valid 3C certification, with unclear 3C labels or under recall from domestic flights from 28 June 2025. It cited recalls by several manufacturers and suspended certifications ¹⁴.

Emirates banned all use of power banks on board from 1 October 2025. Passengers may carry one power bank under 100 Wh, kept in the seat pocket or under the seat, not in the overhead bin ¹⁵.

On 27 March 2026 the ICAO Council approved an amendment to the 2025 to 2026 Technical Instructions. It bans recharging power banks on board, limits each person to two power banks and recommends against using them to charge devices on board. The addendum applied from 27 March 2026 ¹². Malaysia's regulator told airlines to apply the new limits by 30 April 2026. It went further and said power banks shall not be used to charge devices on board, and that screeners should check passengers carry no more than two ¹³.