Beijing airport strengthens controls on lithium batteries

As an increasing number of passengers use lithium batteries and portable battery chargers for their mobile devices, it has caused trouble for airports and airlines.

At Beijing Capital International Airport, all spare lithium batteries passengers are carrying will be examined during the safety check to minimize the possibility of any self-ignition of the battery, said Zhao Yang, the airport's flight safety supervisor.

In June and July 2013 alone, three cases of spontaneous combustion of lithium batteries happened on three domestic flights.

At the end of April, a lithium battery in a passenger's suitcase exploded during a safety check at Xi'an Xianyang International Airport.

"In the past, we did not examine lithium batteries during the safety check, but now all lithium batteries must be checked," Zhao said.

Lithium batteries are completely banned in checked luggage. Passengers are allowed to carry on board spare lithium batteries with a capacity of less than 100 watt-hours. Batteries with capacity of between 100 and 160 watt-hours can only be carried on board with the permission of the airline.

"But the problem is that there is no manufacturing standard for lithium batteries in China, so many lithium batteries have no product specifications and we cannot tell how large some batteries' capacity is," Zhao said.

"In that case, we have to ask passengers to abandon the batteries, deliver them through land transportation, or store them at the airport temporarily," he said.

yangyangs@chinadaily.com.cn