Attn Travelers: Lithium batteries?
 

I just had a talk with a friend who is an aircraft mechanic and he said the airlines are starting to come in with limitations on the amount of lithium li-on batteries you can travel with. Apparently you're supposed to call your battery manufacturer and find out how much lithium exactly is in each battery, and the max is something like 70g.

Does anyone else know anything about this? I'd think a laptop battery with a few camera batteries would put anyone over the limit?

What is the reasoning?

Well, I travel with about 20 extra AA's for my flash and have not run into any issues although I have read that they should be kept in their original, unopened packaging. I don't.

no batteries, im fucked

Apparently lithium in certain amounts becomes combustible? Some weirdness like that.

K, I found an article:

http://www.robgalbraith.com/bins/con...id=7-9206-9208

"the main and perhaps only change we'll need to make when preparing to fly is to consistently place spare camera and laptop Lithium-Ion packs into see-through, sealable bags, so as to not give airport screeners a reason to delay the passage of carry-ons through security"

Here's the WestJet checklist:
http://www.channelgroup.org/wjpassengers/batteries.htm

Consumer electronic devices:

Passengers may bring consumer electronic devices (watches, calculating machines, cameras, cellular phones, laptop computers, camcorders, etc.) containing lithium or lithium ion cells or batteries when carried for personal use. Spare batteries must be individually protected so as to prevent short circuits and carried in carry-on baggage only. In addition, each spare battery must not exceed the following quantities:

* for lithium metal or lithium alloy batteries, a lithium content
of not more than 2 grams; or
* for lithium ion batteries, an aggregate equivalent lithium
content of not more than 8 grams.

Lithium ion batteries with an aggregate equivalent lithium content of
more than 8 grams but not more than 25 grams may be carried in carry-on
baggage if they are individually protected so as to prevent short
circuits and are limited to two spare batteries per person.

For further information please contact a WestJet agent.