I have just tried to check in at Leeds Bradford airport for a Jet 2 flight to Geneva with my Mammut air bag. They refused to let me take the cannister on the flight claiming it did not meet IATA regulations which they claim permit cannisters only up to 200 ml capacity. The Mammut cannister is 250 ml. This decision was reached after long discussions between the staff and the duty manager.
I pointed out I have flown multiple times with this piece of kit but to no avail and the cannister had to be left behind at the airport.
Please be advised if you are traveling with Jet 2.
Is this something the Club could take up with Jet 2?
Probably better to argue with them using the regulations themselves in the future rather than assertions of past success but that doesn’t help the pain you have now of having the cannister confiscated: https://www.iata.org/contentassets/6fea26dd84d24b26a7a1fd5788561d6e/dgr-62-en-2.3a.pdf
They may have confused the 200 mg of pyrotechnic (explosive) permitted for the trigger with the volume of the gas cannister permitted. The regulations don’t list a maximum volume that I can see and I’m sure that the gas in the Mammut cannister meets the division 2.2 requirement (non-flammable, non-toxic).
The only thing that you might not have adhered to on your side according to the rules is (pre-)approval from the carrier. It seems that they didn’t approve it so confiscated. Maybe in the future it makes sense to contact their customer service team can get you written approval that you can carry printed alongside the regulation with the cannister/pack.
(open disclosure: I don’t have personal experience of trying to fly with a cannister avalanche backpack to give advice from 1st hand experience)
I use the dangerous goods regulations at work. The important thing to note is the right column that says approval of the operator is required. This means prior contact and approval. When I’ve travelled with J2/ SAS / ryr I’ve always sought prior approval.
Nb USA airlines have a blanket ban on gas airbags.
I had no problems at all in Japan with ANA internal and international flights with the Mamut air canister I was travelling with.
Good to know this is not the case with Jet 2, does anyone else have any experience of other companies rules?
BTW I didn’t get pre approval
I have a Mammut system, and have had problems at times. Their advice is here;
I found flying out from Manchester last week that Easyjet would accept it in the cabin, the lady at the oversize baggage security was quite alarmed at the size, and was used to seeing canisters like those used for bike punctures.
I had a problem many years ago at Heathrow as I had been issued with a US compliant cannister, which was larger but lower pressure than the EU compliant ones. I have not had a problem for many years in Europe an easyJet and BA had blanket approval on their websites last time. I am in Hokkaido now. I was asked and had to produce the cannister for BA at Heathrow and by security at Hanada, Tokyo, where they were very concerned to check the cannister size and contents. In 2017, I had an identical one confiscated, incorrectly, at Hanada, but was reimbursed subsequently.
I had no problem with Jet2 flying from Edinburgh recently, but I had used their WhatsApp chat line to ask for pre-approval which took about 6 hours to arrive. EasyJet have a section on their website which states that automatic pre-approval is granted. Flew from Geneva with EasyJet with no problems. Finding the info on both companies websites was not easy’ however.
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