Singapore Airlines (SIA). /VCG Photo
Singapore Airlines (SIA) announced on Sunday that passengers should refrain from carrying a limited number of 15-inch MacBook Pro models on flights due to faulty batteries.
The official announcement, posted on SIA's website, is the latest move from an airline after the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) and the United States Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) banned the older generation devices from their flights, fearing the batteries may pose a fire risk.
Screenshot from SIA's website.
Both the EASA and FAA issued warnings about these MacBook Pro models, asking airlines to follow rules that require devices with recalled batteries to be switched off and not used during flights.
Apple said in June it would recall a limited number of 15-inch MacBook Pro units as their batteries were susceptible to overheating and may pose a fire risk. The units were primarily sold between September 2015 and February 2017.
"Customer safety is always Apple's top priority, and we have voluntarily decided to replace affected batteries, free of charge," the company said in a statement.
Battery issues on electronic products are not uncommon. In 2016, dozens of airlines worldwide blocked Samsung's Note7 smartphone after the handset's battery exploded and caught fire in multiple incidents.
Some HP Inc. laptops were banned from being taken on flights last year when lithium-ion batteries in some of the devices were reported to pose fire and burn hazards due to overheating.