Power Bank or Spare Battery? Why the Rules Now Split

A powerbank and a spare battery are no longer the same thing in aviation rules, and that split is new. IATA's guidance for the 2026 regulations states it in one line: "Power banks (see below) are no longer referred to as 'spare batteries'." The US regulator still groups them together. So depending on which rulebook your airline follows, the same 120Wh brick in your bag is either forbidden outright or allowed with approval.

Here is what each side actually says, and how to work out which one applies to you.

What changed, and where it is written

The document is the IATA guidance for passengers travelling with lithium batteries, revised for the 2026 regulations, dated 31 March 2026. It is built on the 2025-2026 edition of the ICAO Technical Instructions and the 67th edition of the IATA Dangerous Goods Regulations.

Its definitions page splits lithium batteries into four groups: batteries inside a device, spare batteries, batteries removed from a device, and powerbanks. The fourth group used to sit inside the second. It does not any more.

IATA is careful about its own status here. The guidance says the information "is intended for guidance purposes only" and "should not be relied upon as a source of regulatory compliance". It is what airlines read, not what they are bound by. That distinction is doing real work in the sections below.

The two definitions, side by side

IATA defines a powerbank as "an easily carried universal external power source, capable of providing power to multiple devices such as mobile phones". A spare battery is something narrower: batteries "usually either single cell batteries (AAA, CR123, etc.) or multi-celled batteries but designed to be inserted into or directly affixed to a specific device".

The dividing line is the word specific. A camera battery, a drill battery, a laptop battery pulled out of its laptop: each one belongs to a particular device and only that device. A powerbank belongs to nothing. It charges whatever you plug into it, which is the whole point of buying one, and it turns out to be the reason it now gets its own row in the table.

Where the two paths separate: 100Wh to 160Wh

Below 100Wh, which covers almost every consumer unit, the two categories behave alike. Carry-on only, never checked. Above 100Wh they part company, and this is the band worth knowing about if you travel with camera or drone kit.

Source: IATA Passengers Travelling with Lithium Batteries, Table 1, 31 March 2026.

Two numbers in that table are worth reading twice. Under 100Wh you may carry twenty spare batteries and two powerbanks. The quantity cap has nothing to do with how much energy you are carrying, because twenty 99Wh camera batteries is a great deal more energy than two 99Wh powerbanks. It is about what the thing does when it is loose in a bag with a charging port on it.

And in the 100 to 160Wh band, a spare battery has a route and a powerbank does not. Same chemistry, same energy, different answer.

The United States has not made the same split

This is where travellers get contradictory answers from equally confident sources.

The FAA's PackSafe guidance, which runs on US DOT regulations at 49 CFR 175.10, still treats the two as one category. Its own words: "Spare lithium batteries (including power banks and portable chargers) must be carried on and cannot be checked." Its baggage table has a single row headed "Spare Battery or Power Bank", and for that row it says: "With airline approval, passengers may also carry up to two spare larger lithium-ion batteries (101-160 Wh)."

So under US rules a 140Wh powerbank is a spare battery, and you may carry two of them with your airline's approval. Under IATA's 2026 guidance the same unit is forbidden. Neither source is out of date. They are answering under different rulebooks.

The FAA also flags the gap that closes the argument: "Many airlines, both domestic and international, may have stricter quantity and Wh limits to include how many power banks/portable chargers each passenger is allowed to travel with, regardless of Wh capacity."

Why the powerbank rules are tightening faster

IATA is explicit that some of what it now prints is ahead of regulation. On powerbanks it writes: "Recent events have resulted in further proposed restrictions regarding power banks carried by passengers. While it will take some time for these proposals to be accepted into regulation, airlines are moving early to adopt these measures in the interests of aviation safety."

The measures it lists for powerbanks specifically:

• A maximum of two lithium-ion powerbanks not exceeding 100Wh.
• They must not be recharged from an in-aircraft power supply.
• They should not be stored in the overhead lockers.
• They should not be used to power other devices during taxi, take-off or landing.

None of those four apply to a camera battery sitting in its padded case. All four assume a device that someone will plug in, leave running, and forget about. That is the behavioural difference the definition change is really tracking, and it is why the two categories stopped sharing a rulebook.

The state-of-charge point nobody reads

IATA's packing advice includes a line most travellers never see. Under "Avoid last minute recharging" it says airlines "prefer spare batteries and power banks to be at less than 25%", and adds: "If you recharge your power bank or PED, then allow it to cool before packing it. Do not recharge it prior to boarding and then store it in the overhead locker."

This runs against the instinct to top everything up at the gate. A cell that has just finished charging is warm and sitting at its highest internal voltage, which is the least forgiving state to then seal inside a bag. If you want your powerbank full on arrival rather than on departure, the honest answer is to charge it at the other end. Rental networks exist partly because that is awkward to solve any other way, and Brick stations sit in venues in over 25 countries for exactly that gap.

Worth noting that a low state of charge is also better for the cells if the unit is going into storage rather than into a suitcase, which we covered in how to store a power bank.

What to do before your next flight

1. Read the Wh figure off the case. Every lithium-ion battery is required to carry its Watt-hour rating marked on the outside. If staff cannot verify it, IATA says the operator "may not permit the carriage" of the battery or the device. Our walkthrough on converting mAh to Wh covers what to do when the marking is missing.
2. Count your powerbanks, not your batteries. Two is the working number on most carriers now, whatever the capacity.
3. Check the airline, not the country. The carrier's own dangerous goods page is the only answer that binds you, and several went further than both rulebooks during 2025 and 2026. We tracked those changes in power bank rules on planes in 2026.
4. Do not put either one in the hold. This is the one rule every source agrees on without qualification.

Frequently asked questions

Is a power bank a spare battery?

Not under IATA's 2026 passenger guidance, which states that power banks "are no longer referred to as 'spare batteries'" and gives them their own rows in its carriage table. Under US rules it still is: the FAA's PackSafe guidance lists "Spare Battery or Power Bank" as one category. Which definition applies depends on the airline's own policy.

What is the difference between a power bank and a spare battery?

IATA defines a power bank as a universal external power source able to charge multiple devices, and a spare battery as one "designed to be inserted into or directly affixed to a specific device". A camera or drill battery belongs to one device. A power bank belongs to none.

Can I fly with a 150Wh power bank?

Under IATA's 2026 guidance, no. Its Table 1 lists power banks over 100Wh and up to 160Wh as forbidden in both carry-on and checked baggage. Under US DOT rules the same unit counts as a spare battery and may be carried, up to two per person, with the airline's approval. Ask the airline before you travel.

How many power banks can I take on a plane?

IATA's table caps it at two per person at 100Wh or under, and airlines are adopting that early even though it is ahead of ICAO regulation. For spare batteries in the same band the figure is twenty per person.

Should my power bank be charged before a flight?

IATA advises against last-minute charging and says airlines prefer power banks and spare batteries at under 25 percent. It specifically warns not to recharge a unit before boarding and then store it in an overhead locker.

Can I use a power bank during the flight?

It depends on the carrier. IATA's 2026 guidance says power banks should not be used to power other devices during taxi, take-off or landing, and should not be recharged from the aircraft's own power supply. A number of airlines have gone further and banned in-flight use entirely.

The short version: the aviation world has decided that a battery which charges anything is a different risk from a battery that charges one thing. The paperwork is still catching up with that decision, which is why two official sources can give you two answers about the same object in your bag. Check the Wh figure, count the units, and let the airline's own page settle it.