Recalled 15-Inch MacBook Pro Models Now Banned On More Airliners, Including Qantas, Thai Airways, More

Following Apple’s voluntary recall of some 2015 15-inch MacBook Pro models due to concerns over battery safety a number of airlines have also gone on to impose various bans on Apple notebooks.

Some are specific to those machines that are impacted, while others are much more wide ranging.

Virgin Australia was one of the first to put a new policy in place and it’s also one of the most drastic. It has banned “all Apple MacBooks” from checked luggage, instead insisting that they are all placed on carry-on luggage during a flight.

Australia’s Qantas airlines followed suit, with all 15-inch MacBook Pro models banned from checked luggage. They too must be taken in carry-on luggage, but they must also remain switched off during flights. That’s bad news for anyone hoping to get some work done while in the air.

Both Thai Airways and Singapore Airlines have warned fliers that affected machines cannot be brought onto airplanes unless they have had their batteries replaced. It’s unclear how airline teams will be able to confirm that batteries have been swapped out, however.

Both the European Union Aviation Safety Agency and United States Federal Aviation Administration have reminded airlines of the bans on devices with batteries that have been recalled, too.

It’s not known when any of these bans will come to an end, or how some airlines plan on identifying affected machines. Many MacBook Pro notebooks look identical from year to year, although model numbers can be checked.

(Source: Bloomberg)

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