In the next few weeks I will be travelling to South Africa from New Zealand on a 4 week vacation on Emirates via Dubai. I've heard conflicting reports that drones (Mavic for me) cannot be brought on as carry-on luggage and must be checked in. I know for sure that Li-Po batteries cannot be with checked in luggage, even with Emirates ... but what about the drone itself? I cannot bear the thought of having to check my Mavic in ... not so much because it may be damaged in transit, but for fear of it being stolen on the South African side, which is a common occurrence over there. I would hopefully like to hear from others who have recently taken their Mavic's via Dubai as carry-on luggage with no issues ... any advice or suggestions will be greatly appreciated ... thanks in advance

Batteries cannot be checked in, and must be in cabin baggage. Everything else is fine. I just flew with Emirates with my Mavic and Spark in my checked bags, and my batteries in my cabin bag.

That said, given how paranoid I got along the way, I'd probably be packing my Mavic and Spark in my cabin bag in future, along with the batteries. Accessories like the prop guards, spare props, etc are fine in checked bags.

Take a look below:

Emirates dangerous goods statement

In this case you might be lucky and they will let you in with the Mavic but I would rather avoid it. They do have a policy and it's not a good idea to go against it.

Best of luck flying to SA and have fun in the beautiful country ;)

rnrnrn Posted at 2017-7-2 04:47
Take a look below:

Emirates dangerous goods statement

I wasn't able to find anything prohibiting bringing in the Mavic (or any UAV), but here's what I found

Permitted in carry on, not permitted in checked baggage
Batteries spare/ or loose, including lithium metal or lithium ion cells or batteries, for portable electronic devices must be carried in carry-on baggage only. Articles which have the primary purpose as a power source, e.g. power banks are considered as spare batteries. These batteries must be individually protected to avoid short-circuit.

OR

Lithium Batteries, spare/ or loose with a Watt-hour rating exceeding 100 Wh watt hours but not exceeding 160 Wh watt hours for consumer electronic devices and Portable Medical Electronic Devices (PMED) or with a lithium content exceeding 2 g grams but not exceeding 8 g grams for PMED only. Maximum of two spare batteries in carry-on baggage only. These batteries must be individually protected to prevent short circuit.

Permitted in checked and cabin baggage
Lithium Batteries: Portable electronic devices containing lithium metal or lithium ion cells or batteries, including medical devices such as portable oxygen concentrators (POCs) and consumer electronics such as cameras, mobile phones, laptops and tablets, when carried by customers or crew for personal use. For lithium metal batteries the lithium metal content must not exceed 2 g grams and for lithium ion batteries the Watt-hour rating must not exceed 100 Wh watt hours

The Mavic and Spark batteries are rated under 100 Wh.

That said, I would avoid packing lithium batteries of any sort in checked baggage.
.

Ken-W Posted at 2017-7-2 06:13
I wasn't able to find anything prohibiting bringing in the Mavic (or any UAV), but here's what I found

Permitted in carry on, not permitted in checked baggage

You are correct in avoiding but generally speaking - Mavic + one battery attached is allowed in checked baggage. However I'd advise not doing that.

Basically like this in most cases:
- Mavic's batteries are under 100Whr therefore you can take as many as you want in carry-on,
- the story with "2 max batteries" applies to those which are 100-160Whr,
- buy plastic caps for batteries - it'll make any person checking them happy,
- buy a lipo-safe bag - there are many on the market and I have a slightly bigger one which fits all 3 batteries for Mavic that I have and so far so good, never refused - that's why I also have the plastic caps - to prove I care ;-)

That's pretty much it. Happy flying ;-)

rnrnrn Posted at 2017-7-2 06:51
You are correct in avoiding but generally speaking - Mavic + one battery attached is allowed in checked baggage. However I'd advise not doing that.

Basically like this in most cases:

I just flew DXB-SIN with 4 Mavic batteries, 3 Spark batteries, and an assortment of camera batteries (Leica Q, Leica Sofort) and 1 power bank (12,000 mAh).

I regularly fly to and from Dubai with 4 TB47s and 2 TB48s (I have an Inspire in Singapore, and another in Dubai). No issue. At one point, I flew back into Dubai with 8 TB47s and 2TB48s in my cabin/carry-on bag.

The Mavic batteries aren't more than 100 Wh, so don't fret about it. You can carry as many batteries as you want in carry-on, as long as they don't exceed 100 Wh and you don't exceed the airline weight limits for carry-on. And an additional 2 batteries that are more than 100 Wh and under 160 Wh

Granted, I've had to explain what the batteries were, but Customs was pretty cool once I showed them some of my aerial photos of landscapes around the world, and explained to them that I don't shoot in UAE out of respect for local regulations.

Hi, I flew from Cape town to Cologne and back at the end of May with Emirates. I carried my Mavic and spare battery etc in my carry on and had no problems whatsover.

Drones are not allowed as cabin baggage

For safety reasons, we can’t allow drones on board as cabin baggage. Drones can be accepted as checked-in baggage only. If you have a drone in your checked-in baggage you’ll be asked to either secure the Lithium batteries within the drone or remove the batteries and carry them in your cabin baggage. This regulation still applies even if you’re connecting to our flights from an airline that has accepted drones as cabin baggage.

https://www.emirates.com/english ... ing-dangerous-goods

UCBarkeeper Posted at 2017-7-3 05:31
Drones are not allowed as cabin baggage

For safety reasons, we can’t allow drones on board as cabin baggage. Drones can be accepted as checked-in baggage only. If you have a drone in your checked-in baggage you’ll be asked to either secure the Lithium batteries within the drone or remove the batteries and carry them in your cabin baggage. This regulation still applies even if you’re connecting to our flights from an airline that has accepted drones as cabin baggage.

Interesting ... but am wanting to know 2 things that nobody can give me an answer to:

1. Why is it that Emirates is the only airline prohibiting drones been carried on as cabin luggage ... all the other airlines have no issue.
2. What safety reasons does Emirates refer to ... exactly what threat does a folded up Mavic in the cabin pose, with batteries and props removed.

Videoman10 Posted at 2017-7-3 18:55
Interesting ... but am wanting to know 2 things that nobody can give me an answer to:

1. Why is it that Emirates is the only airline prohibiting drones been carried on as cabin luggage ... all the other airlines have no issue.

Maybe the controller causing interference issues? Who knows.
Please let us know how it goes though.

i see why they don't want a drone in the cabin. not cool if somebody would start flying around.

UCBarkeeper Posted at 2017-7-4 22:48
i see why they don't want a drone in the cabin. not cool if somebody would start flying around.

You're allowed to take bottles of liquor on the plane, but not to drink it. Same thing if you ask me.

People have taken RC planes and helicopters as carry on for years. Ive yet to hear of anyone flying a RC craft INSIDE of a passenger plane. LOL