.renditionimage.450.225.jpg)
Controlled and banned items
Advisory warning for customers travelling to or transiting through Hong Kong
In addition to firearms and ammunition as described on this page:
- Stun guns, tear gas sprays, knuckle dusters and extendable batons are also classified as banned items by the laws of Hong Kong, no matter if you are arriving or transiting through Hong Kong. Offenders are liable upon conviction to a fine of HKD100,000 and imprisonment for 14 years. For further information, please refer to the Hong Kong Police website.
- From 1 February 2023, Cannabidiol (CBD) – commonly used in products such as oils, gels and candies – will be listed as a dangerous drug under the Dangerous Drugs Ordinance (DDO) by the laws of Hong Kong. Anyone found to be in possession, consumption, trafficking and/or manufacturing are liable upon conviction to a maximum fine of HKD5,000,000 and life imprisonment. For further information, please refer to the Narcotics Division, Security Bureau website.
Banned items
For the safety of all our customers, please ensure your bags do not contain any of the following banned items. Because we only fly to airports with thorough security checks, your items will be confiscated if they do not meet the requirements.
Please refer to the Hong Kong Civil Aviation Department's Dangerous Goods page , Link opens in a new window operated by external parties and may not conform to the same accessibility policies as Cathay Pacificfor guidance and further details.
Rules for all baggage
Stunning devices
You may not bring any stunning devices, designed specifically to stun or immobilise, onto the plane.
Devices include:
- devices for shocking, such as stun guns, tasers and stun batons
- animal stunners and animal killers
- disabling and incapacitating chemicals, gases and sprays, such as mace, pepper sprays, capsicum sprays, tear gas, acid sprays and animal repellent sprays
- electric stunning devices
Explosives and incendiary substances
You may not bring any explosive item or incendiary substance when you travel. This includes devices capable of or those appearing capable of causing serious injury or posing a threat to the safety of the aircraft.
- ammunition
- blasting caps
- detonators and fuses
- replica or limitation explosive devices
- munitions, fireworks, toy fireworks and flares
- mines, grenades and other explosive military stores
- fireworks and other pyrotechnics
- smoke-generating canisters and cartridges
- dynamite, gunpowder and plastic explosives
Flammable items
You may not bring any flammable substances onto the aircraft. These include harmful gases, liquids like lighter fuel and flammable solids.
- Camping gas, glazing torches and other harmful gases
- Flammable liquids like lighter fluid, petrol and diesel
- Paints, thinner and liquid adhesives
- Flammable solids like non-safety matches, disposable BBQ and coal
- Strike anywhere matches", charcoal, phosphorus and articles which are easily ignited
- Flameless Ration Heater like Self-heating Meal Ready-to-Eat (MRE) and self-heating instant hotpot
Harmful materials
You may not bring oxidisers, poisons, corrosives or hazardous materials onto the plane. Hazardous materials include radioactive, biological and chemical substances.
- Oxidising liquids or solids like bleach, bleaching powder and peroxides
- Toxic and poisonous substances like pesticides, weed killer, arsenic and cyanides
- Chemical and biological hazardous substances, including infectious materials, such as biological products
- Compressed gases (flammable, non-flammable or poisonous) such as butane, propane, aqualung cylinders, lighter fuels or refills, aerosols, chemical irritant aerosols
- Corrosive materials such as mercury (which may be contained in thermometers or blood pressure gauges), acids, alkalis and wet cell batteries
- Corrosives (car or other wet batteries, mercury)
- Radioactive materials
Dangerous items
You may not travel with items and lithium-powered vehicles that could cause serious harm to other passengers. This includes any other substances that present danger inflight such as magnetised, offensive or irritating materials.
- Small vehicles powered by lithium ion batteries, such as the AirWheel, Solowheel, Hoverboard, and other self-balancing scooters and mini Segways
- Attaché briefcases with installed alarm devices
- Incorporate lithium batteries
- Pyrotechnic material
E-cigarettes/e-liquids (Hong Kong, India, Singapore and Taiwan)
Passengers are not permitted to import electronic cigarette devices and other similar or related products into Hong Kong, India, Singapore and Taiwan. Please check national regulations for specific details, which varies for each country.
The Hong Kong SAR Government has imposed a ban on the importation, promotion, manufacture, sale or possession of alternative smoking products, heated tobacco products and herbal cigarettes. This also includes for personal use. Passengers beginning or ending their journey in Hong Kong must not carry these items in either their checked or carry-on baggage. Passengers transiting through Hong Kong are not affected.
Please visit the Tobacco and Alcohol Control Office website for further details.
The Ministry of Health and Welfare in Taiwan has imposed a ban on electronic cigarette devices (e-cigarettes) and its liquids (e-liquids), as part of the Tobacco Hazards Prevention Act. As such, import of these products into Taiwan is not allowed.
Please visit the Taipei Customs website for further details.
The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India, has imposed a ban on electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes), including all electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS), heat-not-burn products, e-hookahs and other similar devices, excluding those licensed under the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940. As such, the import, export or transport of these items in India is not allowed.
The Ministry of Health in Singapore has imposed a ban on electronic cigarette devices (e-cigarettes), including all electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS), heated tobacco products and e-liquids as part of the Tobacco (Control of Advertisements and Sale) Act, or TCASA. As such, import, distribution, sale, purchase, use and possession of these products in Singapore are prohibited.
Please visit the Singapore Health Sciences Authority website or the Singapore Ministry of Health website for further details.
Animal products and EU travel
As a broad rule, passengers are not permitted to bring any consignment of meat products or milk products into the EU, with the exception of powdered infant milk, baby food or special food or pet foodstuffs required for medical purposes.
Products of animal origin may carry pathogens that can cause infectious diseases in animals. To prevent the spread of disease and for the general safety of our passengers, we are obliged to follow the EUROPA guidelines on animal health.
As a general rule, passengers are not allowed to bring any consignment of meat, meat products, milk or milk products into EU. Please note that passengers arriving from Croatia, The Faeroe Islands, Greenland or Iceland may bring under 10 kilograms of such products for personal consumption.
The notable exception to the above rule is travel with up to 2 kilograms of powdered infant milk, infant food, or special foods/special pet feed required for medical purpose. The items must meet the following special requirements:
- The product does not require refrigeration before consumption
- It is a product of packaged proprietary brand
- The packaging is not broken
For fishery products (including fish and certain shellfish such as prawns, lobsters, dead mussels and dead oysters), passengers are allowed to bring in such products up to 20 kilograms in total, or one fish that weights 20 kilograms or over.
This excludes those arriving from the Faeroe Islands or Iceland who have no weight restrictions on transporting fishery products, provided they are for personal consumption.
For updates and more details, please visit the European Commission Food Safety website.
Laser pointers and travel to Switzerland
Passengers are not permitted to import or transit with dangerous laser pointers in Switzerland.
From 1 June, 2019, Switzerland imposed a ban on the following dangerous classes of laser pointers: 1M, 2, 2M, 3R, 3B, and 4.
Other non-standard markings, including class 3A, IIIA, or 1C laser are also considered dangerous. A laser pointer will be considered dangerous and banned if it carries no decipherable marking indicating which laser class it belongs to, or if it carries no marking at all.
Passengers should note that possession, importing of, and transiting with, the above classes of lasers is forbidden. (Possession of class 2 is allowed until 1 June 2021.)
Non-hazardous laser pointers are not included in the ban – please refer to the PDF or the Federal Department of Home Affairs (FDHA), Swiss Confederation website for further details.
Confiscated items
Please take a moment to read through our security notice regarding banned items.
We don’t like having to say no to our customers, but we ask you to comply with the above regulations so your safety is not compromised.
Legally, we are not responsible or liable for items removed from passengers by airport security personnel. This is because they are acting in accordance with international and governmental regulations.
If you do have an item that is confiscated, we cannot guarantee its return to you. However, if the security personnel return the item to us, we are happy to store it for a total of 7 days for you to pick up. In the best case scenario, we would of course like to see all customers reunited with their confiscated items, and we do everything we can to make sure this is the case.
15-inch MacBook Pro battery recall
Apple has recalled certain 15-inch MacBook Pro models with Retina display, sold between September 2015 and February 2017. Defective batteries in these MacBook Pros can overheat and pose a fire safety risk.
We therefore request that passengers refrain from bringing any affected models onboard a Cathay Pacific operated flight until the battery has been verified as safe or replaced by the manufacturer.
To check if this affects your device, please visit the Apple website and enter your serial number.
Power-Assisted Bicycles (PABs) and Motorised Personal Mobility Devices (PMDs)
Passengers importing Power-Assisted Bicycles (PABs) and Motorised Personal Mobility Devices (PMDs) are required to obtain approval from the Land Transport Authority (LTA) before importing these devices into Singapore.
- Electric scooters
- Hoverboards
- Electric unicycles
- Electric skateboards
Please visit the LTA website for more details.
Note: Passengers are not permitted to bring small vehicles running on lithium-ion batteries onto the aircraft. Please visit Ban on hoverboards and other self-balancing scooters for more information.
Satellite phones (India)
Passengers are not permitted to import satellite phones to India.
The Government of India has banned the importation of satellite phones without permission in either checked or carry-on baggage. Passengers transiting through India are not affected.
Visit the Central Board of Indirect Taxes & Customs website for further details.
Pagers and walkie-talkies (United Arab Emirates)
Passengers are not permitted to bring pagers or walkie-talkies on flights departing from or transiting through Dubai. Any such devices found in checked or carry-on baggage will be confiscated.
