Qatar Airways today announces a ban on battery-powered personal vehicles commonly known as ‘hoverboards’ on all aircraft as it continues to put the safety of passengers and crew first.
Effective immediately, the ban applies to all small vehicles powered by lithium batteries as both checked-in baggage and as cabin baggage on all Qatar Airways flights. The ban applies regardless of the watt-hour rating of the lithium battery.
Qatar Airways Senior Vice President for Group Safety & Security, Ashish Jain, said; “Qatar Airways has taken this responsible and necessary step as passenger and crew safety remain our utmost concern. Recent reports and new evidence has led to our decision to add hoverboards to our list of restricted items. Therefore we would like to notify passengers ahead of the busy travel season to ensure that no one is left unaware. Our priority is the safety of our passengers and staff, as such we cannot accept these items as either checked-in baggage or carry-on.” Some examples of these small lithium battery-powered vehicles are: airwheel, solowheel, hoverboard, mini-segway and balance wheel. Qatar Airways is implementing the ban immediately due to concerns regarding the questionable quality of such items and the potential fire hazard associated with their batteries.
Qatar Airways is urging passengers to review the list of restricted items on their website before travelling to ensure a stress-free and smooth check-in process. Due to international regulations, and to ensure the safety of customers, there are a number of restrictions on items that can be carried in baggage.
Qatar Airways, the national carrier of the State of Qatar, is one of the fastest growing airlines operating one of the youngest fleets in the world. Now in its 18th year of operations, Qatar Airways has a modern fleet of 173 aircraft flying to 153 key business and leisure destinations across six continents. Qatar Airways won Airline of the Year, Best Business Class Airline Seat and Best Airline in the Middle East at the 2015 Skytrax Awards.
Source: Qatar news agency
