Restricted and prohibited items on hand luggage

Here are the current main banned items on flights:

Chemicals, fuels, liquids and batteries: You currently cannot take any of these items either as hand luggage or checked-in luggage:

• Oxidisers and organic peroxides, including bleach and car body repair kits
• Acids and alkalis (for example spillable ‘wet’ batteries)
• Corrosives or bleaching agents (including mercury and chlorine)
• White spirit and solvent for paints
• Vehicle batteries and fuel systems
• Self defence or disabling sprays (for example mace, pepper spray)
• Radioactive materials (including medicinal or commercial isotopes)
• Poisons or toxic substances (for example rat poison)
• Biological hazards (for example infected blood, bacteria, viruses)
• Materials that could spontaneously combust (burst into flames)
• Fire extinguishers
• Fireworks
• Camping stoves – gas or flammable liquid fuelled
• Flammable paint
• Lighter fuel and lighter refills
• Large diving cylinders
• Above 280 kPa (2.8 bar or 40 psi) cannot be carried.
• Smoke hood with oxygen supply
• Strike anywhere matches
• Large quantities of alcohol above the criteria limits.

Ammunition, guns and knives

While all guns, firearms and other items that can fire a projectile or cause injury - so things like, slingshots, underwater guns and air guns) are banned from hand luggage. You can speak to the airline about them going in the hold if you have a special reason or permit. You should also be careful with objects with sharp edges and objects that can cause injuries. So items you can’t take in your hand luggage include items like:

• Axes
• Hatchets
• Garden tools
• Ski poles
• Scalpels
• Knives and scissors with blades longer than 6 cm, sharpeners
• Snap knives
• Ice-breakers
• Crampons
• Razorblades

We hope you’ve found this guide useful and comprehensive - but please remember if you have any concerns, please raise them with the airline you’re travelling with. They are used to dealing with requests like this every day - so will be able to give you the most up-to-date information.

Unusual items

Newer kit, such as drones, should be checked with your airline. They can be carried in hand luggage (as long as it doesn’t go over weight) but you should check with the airlines over batteries.

You may find yourself in the sad circumstances where you have to carry ashes with you on a plane. These must be sealed and have to be accompanied by documentation - for example a Certificate of Death - gained from the country of your departure. You can then decide whether you keep them in your hand luggage or put them in the hold. These again might be screened separately so it is worth checking with your airline.