Yes, this is not an April Fools joke in advance. Starting on 1 April 2025, passengers travelling with Malaysia Airlines, Firefly and MASwings can still carry their power banks on board but this is now restricted in a few ways. This is in line with the recent updated regulations.
To be more precise, it must be carried with you at all times (such as in your bag under the seat or the seat pocket in front of you) and should not be placed in the overhead compartments. Secondly, you are not allowed to charge your power bank throughout the flight. The same applies during taxi, take-off and whenever the seat belt sign is on.
The company also prohibits passengers from carrying too many power banks. At most, only up to two are allowed with a capacity of 100-160Wh (approximately from 27,000mAh to 43,000mAh). And as expected, power banks and spare lithium-ion batteries in checked baggage are also strictly prohibited. While the regulation did not mention 'charging your device', we think it's safe to say that that's not allowed too, as implied by the new rules.
In other news, it wasn't that long ago that Singapore Airlines also announced the same thing. The updated policy will take effect on 1 April 2025 as well, including the ban on passengers from using their power banks to charge their devices throughout the flight.
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