Airlines prohibit traveling with eBikes, but there are some exceptions you should know

Traveling by plane with our bicycle was already something that involved certain complications, but doing it with an e-bike becomes an almost impossible mission due to the strict safety measures of the International Air Transport Association (IATA) regarding lithium batteries and the associated risk of fire.

Can I travel by plane with an eBike?

Internationally, most airlines around the world follow the recommendations of IATA, the organization that regulates international air transport and establishes the safety measures that must be complied with on different flights.

It is not new that lithium batteries have always been a focus of aviation safety. In fact, the FAA, the highest authority in air transport in the United States, reported 60 lithium battery fires on planes in 2023, obviously almost all from devices such as mobile phones, laptops, etc.

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As we have explained on other occasions, the problem with lithium battery combustion is that they produce a very violent and difficult to extinguish deflagration, which obviously, if it occurs during the flight, can seriously compromise the safety of the aircraft.

In the case of lithium batteries in mobile devices, they are small in size and capacity, making them more controllable in case of a fire. However, in the case of scooters and eBikes, their batteries are large in size, so a fire in them can have very serious consequences.

That is why most airlines directly prohibit the transport of eBikes and other types of electric vehicles. A small number of airlines do allow the transport of electric bikes, but with the condition that the battery can be removed during the flight and that it does not exceed 160 Wh in capacity. Therefore, traveling with the eBike would be practically limited to city models that usually meet these two conditions.

Airlines also regulate the possibility of carrying batteries during the flight, with the focus on those 160 Wh where a battery is considered high capacity. This regulation is more aimed at spare batteries used in electronic devices (for example, photographers often carry several spare batteries) and they usually have to be carried in the cabin.

This could affect users of electronic shifting, mainly SRAM users who often have spare batteries. However, the low capacity of these batteries, 2.2 Wh, allows them to be transported without problems in checked baggage, although our recommendation to avoid any problems is to remove them from the bike before the flight and carry them in your carry-on luggage.

Returning to eBikes, as you may have noticed, it is practically impossible to travel with them, so if we want to have our eBike at the destination of our trip, the options are to send them through a courier service or, the simplest alternative, rent a bike at the destination.