Travelling tomorrow and want to take my mavic Air with me.

Where should I pack it ?

The batteries should always be as carry-on luggage. Your drone can be checked-in but I always keep it as carry-on. You never know how your luggage is treated :-). You can also buy DJI Battery Safe bag which can prevent your batteries from combusiton. Very few airlines require them but it definitively doesn't hurt. Can be bought here: https://store.dji.com/product/dji-battery-safe-bag?vid=31301
Enjoy your travels ;)

DJIJAKOB Posted at 2018-6-1 01:25
The batteries should always be as carry-on baggage. Your drone can be checked-in but I always keep it as carry-on. You never know how your luggage is treated :-).

I just called them and they said that both to go in the hold?

fans111d4d00 Posted at 2018-6-1 01:26
I just called them and they said that both to go in the hold?

Different airlines have different rules. But it is very common that they require the battery as hand luggage. I normally travel with the aircraft as hand luggage, but in some cases I've had it checked inn.

fans111d4d00 Posted at 2018-6-1 01:26
I just called them and they said that both to go in the hold?

this is 100% wrong

Lipo batteries are very sensitive to temperature change and should be taken as hand luggage.

I flew from London to Prague last weekend, the flight was busy so we were asked to check our hand luggage, I stated that I was carrying lithium and lipo batteries at which point our bags went on as hand luggage.

Agree with Ridg, the batteries should be taken as hand luggage.

Also a good idea to discharge your batteries to below 50% prior to flying,, IMO. Personally, I take mine to ~30%. Reason being that if a battery does ignite, at least it won't ignite with the stored energy of a full charge. It's a simple and unobtrusive precaution.

I also pack it in my carry on bag and I never declared it.  I know I’m under the rating(which is per battery not accumulated value).  I declare everything else as asked.. laptop and iPhone and stuff like that.. but if I don’t need to pull my drone out I won’t..  everytime so far it has gone without a hitch.   

I found that most of the time flight security has no clear clue of the rules.  It’s better to just not even ask.. they can do a secondary bag secure on other side of the X-ray machine if they want.. .

I never use li-P.O. safe bag, I actually use a zip hardcass (similar to the one the Mavic Air comes with)  for my batteries and tuck them into my bag.

If your Mavic is packed (snug) in a case and the batteries in their own snug compartment (no possibility of touching anything else), is that ok, or do you still need to put the batteries in some type of non-conductive material?

marklyn59 Posted at 2018-6-1 05:38
If your Mavic is packed (snug) in a case and the batteries in their own snug compartment (no possibility of touching anything else), is that ok, or do you still need to put the batteries in some type of non-conductive material?

I just pack it in a fabric hard case ..I keep a battery in the drone and the spares separate because they don’t fit in the same case.. but nothing special..  

I pack my MP with my other camera gear and haven't had any issues with the TSA.  I haven't traveled internationally with it yet, so I hope this works for that too.  

Always consult the airline. They are the only reliable source of information, because it is liable to change.

AlansDronePics Posted at 2018-6-1 06:10
Always consult the airline. They are the only reliable source of information, because it is liable to change.

I find quiet the opposite.  A lot of time they don’t really know, they just read off of a cheat sheet and don’t actually read the fine details.    Hence the inconsistency people experiance.

I always go with the method of packing it up in my carry on backpack and only presenting stuff they ask for.. they have the option to hand search the bag once it passes X-ray machine and question me than.  I have never had an issue, including some international flights between Europe and America..

Take off.  Line up the center screen with the airliner door.  Race in and take a hard right.  Chase stewardess down the length of the plane.  Tada,...drone on a plane.

I believe the Mavic Air manual recommends you discharge the batteries to 30% or less before taking them on a plane.  I was in a hotel room a couple weeks ago with my MA sitting on a desk idling for almost 3 hours because I'd charged up all three of my batteries the day before and it rained so I couldn't run them down the good way.

I travel with mine in the carry bag that came with the flymore combo just discharging the batteries to below 40% further never had any issues as carry on luggage

I have flown with my Mavic Pro in the US many times without a problem. I always keep it in a smaller backpack as my  “personal item.”  TSA treats it the same way as a laptop/tablet and requests that it be put in its own tub for the X-ray scan. Once on the plane I slide it under the seat in front of me and enjoy the flight.