Japan’s transport ministry has banned the use of portable chargers, also called power banks, on flights departing from and arriving at airports in Japan after a series of incidents involving lithium-ion batteries catching fire or emitting smoke onboard.
The new rules went into effect on Friday. Recharging smartphones and other devices with portable chargers or charging the power banks themselves using outlets in the cabin are both prohibited.
Under the new rules, one passenger can bring no more than two chargers into the cabin.
People who charge their batteries or bring in more chargers than allowed could face a prison sentence of up to two years or a maximum fine of one million yen — roughly 6,300 dollars.
At Tokyo’s Haneda Airport, the check-in counters of various airlines are displaying information on portable chargers.
One traveler says that being unable to recharge her devices during a flight is inconvenient, but it cannot be helped because fires have occurred.
Another traveler says he used to recharge his smartphone with a mobile battery on board during his business trips, but on this day he is doing it before boarding.
The International Civil Aviation Organization revised its rules in March to ban the in-flight use of portable chargers.
Editorial note: In an earlier version of this story we wrote that the use of portable chargers has been banned “on flights into and out of the country,” but it should have said “departing from and arriving at airports in Japan.”