Hi,

I am planning to take my Mavic with me to Jersey, Channel Islands next week on Easyjet from the UK. I'm carrying the Mavic in my cabin bag. I know that there's no issue with flying with the Lithium batteries as they are under 100wH. However, apart from protecting the batteries from short circuiting (I bought connector caps from China), there's nothing to say that the batteries have to be protected, for example, in individual bags as I have seen mentioned in a number of online boards.

What I'm wondering is do the batteries have to be protected in a bag, or is a bag a way of protecting the batteries from short circuit.

Also, I'd be interested in hearing if anyone has carried a drone on Easyjet before. Did you have any problems?

Many thanks.

The manual talks about this in that you should discharge them to less than 20% before transporting them on an aircraft.

You can either put them in individual bags for you can cover up the terminals and you should be fine.

Xman1 Posted at 2017-4-21 05:47
The manual talks about this in that you should discharge them to less than 20% before transporting them on an aircraft.

20% is just a suggestion for traveling on long trips it dont say anything about when flying in aircraft's. Although some airline's recommend discharging to 50% when traveling.

I'm going to travel in two months and it's going to be my first time with the drone. Should i take the battery off the drone or its to ok to have one pluged there and the other two in the fly more bag?

You should be fine.  Three batteries is allowed:

Carry-on         Maximum 100Wh, passenger can take 2 spares up to 160Wh each, not exceeding 320Wh. No check-in allowed.

Note:  Since 2016, lithium batteries can no longer be carried in passenger aircraft as cargo.

theinstanic Posted at 2017-4-21 06:25
I'm going to travel in two months and it's going to be my first time with the drone. Should i take the battery off the drone or its to ok to have one pluged there and the other two in the fly more bag?

What airline are you traveling on?

FrequentFlyer Posted at 2017-4-21 06:17
20% is just a suggestion for traveling on long trips it dont say anything about when flying in aircraft's. Although some airline's recommend discharging to 50% when traveling.

Is it actually possible to discharge Mavic batteries? I usually use discharge function on the DJI Hub for Phantom 4 Pro batteries to discharge to 50%, but doesn't appear to be such function on the Mavic Hub.

chrismid2599 Posted at 2017-4-21 07:02
Is it actually possible to discharge Mavic batteries? I usually use discharge function on the DJI Hub for Phantom 4 Pro batteries to discharge to 50%, but doesn't appear to be such function on the Mavic Hub.

Per manual it just says to fly around to discharge your battery, or depending on your settings it should discharge to 65%, after sitting for 10 days, which will probably show 2 lights on the battery. Most airlines dont even check the battery percentage.

Xman1 Posted at 2017-4-21 06:29
You should be fine.  Three batteries is allowed:

Carry-on         Maximum 100Wh, passenger can take 2 spares up to 160Wh each, not exceeding 320Wh. No check-in allowed.

This is incorrect, as the requirements change per airline.

FrequentFlyer Posted at 2017-4-21 07:46
This is incorrect, as the requirements change per airline.

True that.  Same with the discharge requirements.

You can't ship lithium with anymore than 30% charge, so I would think to err on the side of caution when flying.  Each battery and its charge is potential energy in the event over overheating or damage of some sort.  Less charge == Less chance for catastrophic fire resulting from any damage or overheating.

I don't trust Lipo's all that much as they are contained in little plastic bags and are not very stable.

Edit:  For those that don't know, Lipo stands for Lithium Polymer.  It is not a standard Lithium battery but is one designed for the most energy density in the lightest space.  Most electric aircraft will use a Lipo for obvious reason - lightweight and great energy.

FrequentFlyer Posted at 2017-4-21 06:34
What airline are you traveling on?

Aerolineas Argentinas, are domestic flights here in my country.

theinstanic Posted at 2017-4-21 08:12
Aerolineas Argentinas, are domestic flights here in my country.

I would read the info in link below to ensure you are following your airlines rules.

http://cargo.aerolineas.com.ar/en-US/envios_especiales/Litio

Xman1 Posted at 2017-4-21 08:02
True that.  Same with the discharge requirements.

You can't ship lithium with anymore than 30% charge, so I would think to err on the side of caution when flying.  Each battery and its charge is potential energy in the event over overheating or damage of some sort.  Less charge == Less chance for catastrophic fire resulting from any damage or overheating.

Carry-on / Shipping 2 different things.

FrequentFlyer Posted at 2017-4-21 08:21
I would read the info in link below to ensure you are following your airlines rules.

http://cargo.aerolineas.com.ar/en-US/envios_especiales/Litio

You made my day, thanks for being so helpful!

There is nothing on the airlines website about batteries having to be at a certain charge level. It only says about restrictions to batteries that have a wH rating of 100 of over. As the Mavic batteries are under 100wH. There doesn't seem to be an issue here.

chrismid2599 Posted at 2017-4-21 09:56
There is nothing on the airlines website about batteries having to be at a certain charge level. It only says about restrictions to batteries that have a wH rating of 100 of over. As the Mavic batteries are under 100wH. There doesn't seem to be an issue here.

Did you not read this section?

LIMITATIONS

The Aerolineas Group established that can only be accepted Lithium Ion batteries with the following exception acceptance limits. * The  small Lithium Ion Batteries  must not exceed  20 Wh  of energy charge. * The  Lithium ion batteries  can not exceed  100 Wh  power load.

Sorry, what I meant was on the airlines website, as in the airline I'm travelling with.

FrequentFlyer Posted at 2017-4-21 08:22
Carry-on / Shipping 2 different things.

I think you missed my point -  what I was getting at is you have a mavic getting tossed around in an airliner.  Potential energy == potential fire with the slightest damage on a LiPo.  It is not like you can just pull over to the side of the road and toss it out.

I don't think I would want to fly with someone with fully charged batteries either.  

The point:  Be safe.

This is the regulations from IATA

battery must be Discharge at 30% and cannot be carried in cargo bags, just in you hand bags!! ...and no propeller at cabin...just in cargo bags ....it loks like a plastic knife
everyone must read iata regulation

Apologies to bump this post, but I wanted to share my experience.

No problems with travelling with drone from origin airport. However, I was surprised when returning airport security where interested in Mavic Pro. Security wasn't nasty about it, in fact, they joked that they had never seen a drone before by the end. When my bag containing camera equipment and drone went through the scanner, security asked me did I pack the bag myself and would I open it for them. There is a small pouch at the front of the bag where the drone props where stored. The lady asked me was there any sharp items in the bag and asked me to open this pouch at the front of the bag. She took a look at the props and asked me what they were for. I told her, they are propellers for a drone. She asked me to remove the drone from the bag, then took it away in a tray and the drone went through the scanner by itself. When it was given the all clear it was also swabbed. They also wanted me to prove to them that my two cameras and the drone turned on. The guy who was manning the scanner laughed at one point and said "we've never seen a drone here before".

My feeling was that when the bag was originally scanned, they may have been alarmed by the look of the propellers, and took the opportunity to do a full bag search at the same time.