I just emailed turkish airlines asking them if I could take my drone and my spare camera batteries with me and they replied with this.
"
Thank you for your email. First of all please note that due to IATA regulations Drones cannot be brought on the planes.
In regards to electrical ban, and what is allowed, please kindly refer to the detailed information below.
I have also below information in regards to Lithium Batteries.
We wish you a pleasant journey on Turkish Airlines
Lithium Batteries:
In regards to Lithium batteries that can be allowed for checked baggage, this is the information that we have;
100wh-160wh per passenger in each check-in baggage. You passenger will be fine, so long as they do not exceed 160wh.
Please find below additional link;
http://www.turkishairlines.com/en-int/travel-information/baggage/dangerous-goods
Our hand luggage allowance is 8 kgs per person, and has to be max dimensions of 55x40x23 cm.
Bans apply from Istanbul to UK Airports, on the outward flight there are no restrictions.
The process for Electrical items from Istanbul are;
At the gate there will be dedicated staff that will take the electrical items from the passengers and will get the passengers to sign against their details.
They are then given a stub, similar that of boarding passes, which passengers needs to keep, as it will have their reference number on them.
These items get wrapped individually in bubble wrap and then placed in secure hard suitcases which gets loaded in the hold of the aircraft.
When the aircraft lands in UK, these luggages gets offloaded and my colleagues will them take these over, and set up a stand in Baggage reclaim next to the baggage belt.
Passengers can then collect their electronic items once my colleagues there have cross referenced and checked the information.
Power Bank information;
As per new regulations POWER BANKS over 16.0cm long, 9.3 cm wide and 1.5 cm are not allowed in the hand luggage nor in the hold luggage therefore are considered prohibited items. Therefore the power bank was probably kept in Istanbul and cannot be sent to LHR.
“Definition of devices to which the measures apply ; The measures apply to laptops, tablets and phones except those with dimensions smaller than 16.0cm long, 9.3 cm wide and 1.5 cm deep. For the avoidance of doubt we consider this would include e-readers.
The measures also apply to certain peripherals for use with such devices, which for these purposes should be taken to comprise
- Keyboards
- Power cable transformers
- Spare or separate device batteries
- Portable power sources
- External hard drives
again except for those with dimension smaller than those shown above Existing safety regulations state that spare/separate batteries and portable power sources of any size cannot be carried in hold baggage. Our new request prohibits such items designed for use with laptops, tablets and phones, from the cabin of the aircraft if the peripheral item itself is not within the dimensions highlighted above. Therefore such items can no longer be carried in the aircraft cabin or hold on affected routes.
Electrical Restrictions;
All Lap tops
All Tablets such as Ipads
All E-Readers such as Kindles
Mobiles phones larger than 16cm in length 9.3cm wide 1.5cm deep
The following ‘Plus’ Phones are permitted
• iPhone 7 Plus
• Samsung Galaxy 7 Edge
• Samsung Galaxy Note 3
• LG G3
• Sony Xperia Z2
These regulations come into force from midnight local time on Saturday 25th March.
The restrictions apply to all passengers travelling from Istanbul or through Istanbul, eg if your journey is Bangkok-Istanbul-London
The restrictions DO NOT apply on flights departing from the United Kingdom"
As far as I understand I cannot travel with the drone however I cannot see how putting this in your check in baggage will be a problem. Even telling me that 160wh was the limit. I do not know where they got IATA regulations doesn't allow a drone to be brought onto a plane sounds like nonsense to me. Do you guys recommend me putting it into my check in with the battery disconnected from the drone. The electronic device ban is only when coming into UK and not going out so I'm guessing I either have to risk getting my battery confiscated or check it in? I hope this has cleared things up however I am still confused to how some of you have flown with your Mavic when I was told it was not allowed :s
