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Just posing the question out of idle curiosity. If you own an ebike, and have flown with it, did you declare it to the airline when you booked it? Did you leave the battery attached, or did it travel loose in the bag or with you in the cabin?
If you don’t own one (but hypothetically you did), would you declare it when you travel or chance it?
As I said: curiosity more than anything. I’m not planning on doing this BTW, I was just wondering how many of the things are floating around in cargo holds of aircraft across Europe.
If i was uncertain, I’d declare it as early as possible, last thing you want is to find out at the airport that it can’t travel, that would be a major pita.
First worry would be getting it light enough to get under a weight limit in a bag.
Not declaring the battery or working out how to remove it would be a risky game, if they pull your bag too late you will be faced with a nice choice as to if you want to fly or look after your bike.
Airlines will not ship lithium ion batteries in the hold of a passenger plane.
Acceptable as hand baggage of under 300wH which I image most ebikes exceed.
When I worked with electric mobility conversions we did a special "flight" battery at 288wh.
Think most people are blissfully unaware of the rules...
I'm always on the weight limit with an XC bike! What does an ebike weigh?
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Beaten to it.
as stealreal says, it;s the battery that's your problem, post that or see if you can hire a battery would be the options there I think. don;t think hiring batteries is a thing yet, but I'd imagine it will be for any budding entrepreneurs out there!
You cant fly the batteries. 6 of us going to Malaga in Oct, 2 in a van on the ferry with the bikes and 4 flying
I speak with some authority on this subject as I drive a Dreamliner for a living (with a battery in a metal box in case it catches fire).
An e-bike will be classed as ‘Dangerous Goods’ and approval from the operator will be required (the section pertinent in the rules is ‘mobility aids’ - battery powered wheel chairs or other similar mobility devices with spillable batteries or lithium batteries).
It looks like a battery exceeding a watt hour rating of 160 Wh will not be permitted on board, either checked in or hand luggage. Any big capacity battery will need to be disconnected and securely isolated.
I’m checking with my airline’s cargo department to find out the exact rules and will post again once I have a definitive answer, the guidance issued to pilots at present (we need to know what hazardous materials we are carrying) is vague on this subject.
Good question Flaperon!
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Steelsreal
Airlines will not ship lithium ion batteries in the hold of a passenger plane.
Acceptable as hand baggage of under 300wH which I image most ebikes exceed.
When I worked with electric mobility conversions we did a special “flight” battery at 288wh.
Think most people are blissfully unaware of the rules…"[/i]
...looked this up recently as was carrying a solar rechargeable battery pack as a touring back up and it just fell in with the max FAA regs say:
[url] https://www.faa.gov/about/initiatives/hazmat_safety/more_info/?hazmat=7 [/url]
Size limits: Lithium metal (non-rechargeable) batteries are limited to 2 grams of lithium per battery. Lithium ion (rechargeable) batteries are limited to a rating of 100 watt hours (Wh) per battery. These limits allow for nearly all types of lithium batteries used by the average person in their electronic devices. With airline approval, passengers may also carry up to two spare larger lithium ion batteries (101-160 watt hours). This size covers the larger after-market extended-life laptop computer batteries and some larger batteries used in professional audio/visual equipment.
..........was asked at security to open my hand luggage and this was the item of interest - it had the whours marked on it so no problem
my experience of flying with a bike and ski equipment is that at most airports oversize baggage is routinely x-rayed or physically inspected
I recently flew with some new light batteries from @Smudge , on BA to the US. These of course aren't as large as e-Bike batteries, but I did the research as they were larger than normal (for endurance racing). In the end I emailed BA and got approval. Looking at the BA page here
https://www.britishairways.com/en-us/information/baggage-essentials/liquids-and-restrictions
It looks like e-Bike batteries are not allowed. It'll depend on the airline, but I suspect most will have a similar rule.