Travelling with batteries: what IATA's 2026 guidance says, and what it does not.

The document and what it rests on

IATA's "Passengers Travelling with Lithium Batteries: Guidance Document, Revised for the 2026 Regulations" carries the date 31 March 2026. It is based on the 2025-2026 edition of the ICAO Technical Instructions for the Safe Transport of Dangerous Goods by Air and the 67th edition (2026) of the IATA Dangerous Goods Regulations. IATA says the document is guidance only and not a source of regulatory compliance; the regulations themselves, and each airline, decide. A search summary of a Transport Malta operator notice (OAN 02/26) says the guidance is effective only until 31 December 2026; that notice was not read, so the end date is unconfirmed.

How IATA measures a battery

• Limits for rechargeable lithium-ion batteries are set in Watt-hours (Wh); non-rechargeable lithium metal batteries are limited by lithium content in grams.
• Wh equals the rated capacity in ampere-hours multiplied by the nominal voltage.
• All lithium-ion batteries are required to have the Wh rating marked on the case. If staff cannot verify it from the battery or its documents, the operator may refuse carriage.
• Every battery carried by passengers, or shipped as cargo on a passenger aircraft, must be of a type that meets the UN Manual of Tests and Criteria, Part III, subsection 38.3.

What IATA does not say

The 2026 guidance defines only lithium metal and lithium-ion batteries. It does not name lithium polymer, LiPo, model cars or hobby batteries anywhere (a text search of the 2026 PDF made for this site on 30 October 2026). This site therefore does not say which of IATA's categories a racing pack falls into.

The limits (IATA, 31 March 2026, Table 1)

The table notes limit each person to 20 spare batteries of any type unless the operator approves more. Spare batteries must be protected against short circuit, and IATA gives original retail packaging or covered terminals as examples. Separately, power banks above 100 Wh are forbidden, passengers may carry at most two lithium-ion power banks of no more than 100 Wh, and they must not be recharged from aircraft power. For batteries over 100 Wh, IATA names cameras, drones and power tools as examples for which passengers should check with the airline.

Where racing rules meet the transport rules

The racing bodies do not set travel rules, but two of them tie battery approval to the same tests and limits:

• EFRA Handbook 2026, Appendix 4, 1.7: because EFRA events are international, EFRA approves only batteries that comply with the maximum energy capacities required by passenger airlines.
• EFRA (Appendix 4, 3.3(a)) and IFMAR (Batteries and Motors, March 2023, section 1): both require UN 38.3 test certification, tests T1 to T8, before a battery can be approved.
• Labels: EFRA (1.6) requires the label to state energy in Wh; IFMAR (2.6 to 2.8) asks for capacity in Wh.

A battery's place on a racing body's list does not decide whether an airline will carry it; the transport rules and the airline do. The racing limits themselves are on battery rules by body.

United States: unconfirmed

The FAA and PHMSA pages refused access when this site's research was done on 30 October 2026, so 49 CFR 175.10, the US rule for passengers' batteries, was not read. What follows rests only on search-result summaries and is unconfirmed:

• A summary of the FAA's PackSafe page says lithium-ion batteries of up to 100 Wh are allowed, 101 to 160 Wh need air carrier approval and those above 160 Wh are forbidden; that 101 to 160 Wh spares are limited to two, carry-on only, and forbidden in checked baggage; that the page cites 49 CFR 175.10(a)(18); and that TSA, airline and international rules may be stricter.
• A summary of a PHMSA interpretation letter says 49 CFR 175.10 allows an unlimited number of lithium-ion batteries of 100 Wh or less in carry-on baggage, with 101 to 160 Wh batteries needing airline approval and short-circuit protection.

The PHMSA summary also disagrees with IATA on spares of 100 Wh or less: IATA's 2026 table notes set 20 spares per person unless the operator approves more, while the PHMSA letter, as summarised, speaks of an unlimited number. The PHMSA letter itself was not read.

What PHMSA and the FAA have published, in safety advisory notice 09-05 (2009, read in the Federal Register), is their view of the hazard: lithium batteries are hazardous materials because they present chemical hazards such as flammable electrolytes as well as electrical hazards, and fires on aircraft can be catastrophic.

Other countries and fuel

Australia's aviation regulator, CASA, has a page titled for spare lithium-ion batteries above 100 Wh up to 160 Wh, but it timed out and was not read. No transport regulator's page on carrying model-engine fuel by air or road was read, so this site says nothing about travelling with nitro fuel.