Hi,

I’m sure a lot of you people travel with your Spark, so just wanted to check if anyone has experience of carrying their Dji Spark as carry on when flying to/through Dubai with Emirates?

I know that Emirates states that drones are not allowed as carry on. However, I feel a bit silly to force packing the tiny Spark in my checked in luggage since something tells me the Spark isn’t what Emirates is trying to stop entering the cabin...

Any experiences to share?

If you are celebrity enough.... everything is permitted.
Interesting part starts at 7:23. Please notice this is the world record in both, highest altitude (10km+) and highest speed (around at least 800kph) for Spark:

Hehe, I have stumbled across that clip while searching for info about drones and Emirates. It’s pretty hilarious.

When I was flying with Emirates via Dubai I decided to pack my Spark in a checked-in bag, just in case. Remote and the batteries were with me.

I am sure that you'll have no problems if you pack your Spark in a carry-on luggage since only airport security is checking what's in your bag, not Emirates.

Yeah, I think it’s pretty safe but reviewing the prohibited items list makes me uneasy, in case Emirates wanted to act on it.

Just want to hear the stories in case someone actually got caught and had it either confiscated or forced to checkin for a fee.

So far I see it as 1-0 in favor of putting it into the checked in luggage.

I'd put it in the checked baggage. It's just not worth the aggravation if some official decides they want to act on it if they spot in on your carry on baggage.

Just an update on this. I ended up with putting the Spark in my checked in bag, with batteries in my carry on, both when flying through and when entering Dubai. As per check-in rules by Emirates.

It was no problems that way. I could probably have gotten away with keeping the Spark as carry on since there were tons of drones being sold at DXB airport (Emirates airport terminal 3). Not sure why Emirates insists of banning drones as carry on. Makes no sense.

Thanks for the feedback, we will be flying through Dubai in April. If nothing else comes to light I'll do the same, checked in for Sparky, carry on for batteries. BTW, do the batteries need to be discharged?

I just made sure to discharge the batteries to about 60%, nothing that is mandatory by the airline I think. It’s just good practice to both have less energy stored in case the batteries would get damaged or not used for a while (when entering Dubai I just let the Spark stay in my luggage the whole visit).

Also, I did carry on the RC in my carry on as well, since a rule of thumb is that no battery operated items should be checked in.

If you want to fly the drone in Dubai then registration of the drone is mandatory. I even think it’s mandatory for bringing it in, but I got the info from the aviation authority (DCAA) that if I let the drone stay in my luggage while I was in Dubai then it was fine.

I should be okay as I'll be in transit so won't even see my checked in bags. I'll drain the batteries a bit. Hopefully the x ray check does not attract sticky fingers / pilfering (starting in Cape Town, stopover in Dubai, ending in Heathrow)!!