Dangerous Goods Policy

Some items cannot travel by air at all. Others can, but only in a particular bag, below a particular limit, or with our written approval first. This page sets out what Marathon Airlines accepts, so you can pack once and pass through security without losing anything at the checkpoint.

The rules below follow the ICAO Technical Instructions and the IATA Dangerous Goods Regulations, together with EU aviation security law. They are not exhaustive: the list of dangerous goods is extended from time to time, and the captain of an aircraft may always refuse an item. If what you intend to carry is not described here, ask us before you fly rather than at the gate — write to [email protected].

How to read this page

Where an item has a settled answer, it carries a row of markers:

• Permitted in, or as, checked baggage
• Permitted in, or as, cabin baggage
• Permitted on your person
• Our written approval is required before travel
• Not permitted — a crossed marker means not in that place

Where a marker row is absent, the written limits still apply in full. Ask us if you need the position confirmed for a specific item.

Liquids, aerosols and gels in the cabin

EU aviation security law limits the liquids you may take through the checkpoint and into the cabin. The limits apply to every departure from an airport in the European Union, Norway, Iceland and Switzerland, whatever your destination. The European Commission has temporarily reinstated them even at airports fitted with the newest screening equipment, so treat the 100 ml rule as being in force unless staff at that airport tell you otherwise. Where the newest equipment is in use, containers up to 100 ml and personal electronic devices may be left inside your bag during screening.

Liquids, for this purpose, means more than drinks. It includes gels, pastes such as toothpaste, lotions, creams, soaps, jams, syrups, perfumes, shampoos, cosmetics, the contents of pressurised containers such as shaving foam, hair gel, aerosols, mixtures of liquid and solid, and anything of a similar consistency.

What you may take through the checkpoint:

• Containers of no more than 100 ml (or 100 g) each, all of them together inside one transparent, re-sealable bag of no more than one litre, roughly 20 × 20 cm. One bag per passenger, presented separately at screening.
• Medicines and items needed for a special diet, including baby food, in the quantity needed for the journey. You may be asked to show that they are genuine and that you need them with you.
• Liquids bought in the airport's security area or on board, provided they stay sealed in the tamper-evident bag with the receipt inside. If you have a connecting flight, tell the security staff so the bag can be re-sealed.

Everything else goes in your checked baggage. Airports differ in how they apply the detail, so check your departure airport's website if you are unsure.

Items not permitted in the cabin

Separately from the dangerous goods rules, aviation security rules keep a range of everyday objects out of the cabin because they could be used as a weapon. They may usually travel in checked baggage.

Firearms and weapons

All firearms — pistols, revolvers, rifles, shotguns and the like — together with replicas and imitations, component parts other than telescopic sights, compressed air pistols, rifles and pellet guns, signal flare and starter pistols, toy guns of any kind, industrial bolt and nail guns, crossbows, slingshots, spear guns, slaughterhouse guns, stunning devices and electro-shock weapons such as cattle prods and taser guns, and lighters made in the shape of a firearm.

Sharp objects

Axes of any size; hooks, harpoons and spears; ice picks and ice skates; switchblade and stiletto knives of any blade length; knives, including ceremonial knives, with a blade longer than 6 cm in metal or any other hard material; cleavers and machetes; open razors and loose blades, though disposable and cartridge razors are fine; sabres, swords and swordsticks; scalpels; scissors with blades longer than 6 cm measured from the hinge; ski and hiking poles with a metal tip; throwing blades such as shuriken; and professional tools that could serve as a weapon — drills and bits including cordless ones, box cutters, kitchen knives, saws of any kind including cordless, screwdrivers and chisels with a blade or shaft longer than 6 cm, crowbars, hammers, pliers, wrenches, blowtorches, nail guns and pneumatic staplers.

Blunt objects

Baseball and softball bats; clubs and batons, rigid or flexible, including police batons and night sticks; cricket bats; golf clubs; hockey and lacrosse sticks; kayak and canoe paddles; skateboards; billiard cues; fishing rods; and martial arts equipment such as brass knuckles, clubs, rice flails, nunchaku, kubotan and kubasaunt.

Smoking and vaping devices

Electronic cigarettes, electronic pipes, electronic cigars and similar inhalers with a built-in battery must travel in the cabin only and never in checked baggage. Using them on board is prohibited, and so is charging them or their batteries at any point during the flight. Conventional lighters may be carried on your person only.

• Not permitted in, or as, checked baggage
• Permitted in, or as, cabin baggage

Up to 15 battery-powered personal devices per passenger in total, counting these alongside your other electronics.

Batteries and personal electronic devices

Lithium batteries are the most common dangerous good in passenger baggage. A damaged, defective or recalled battery can overheat, short-circuit and catch fire, which is why the rules distinguish so carefully between what is installed in a device and what is loose. Any battery or device that is damaged, defective, or subject to a manufacturer's safety recall may not be carried at all, in either cabin or hold.

Lithium-ion capacity is stated in watt-hours (Wh); lithium-metal batteries are rated by their lithium content (LC) in grams. If your battery shows only amp-hours or milliamp-hours:

Wh = Ah × V   |   Wh = mAh × V ÷ 1,000

Devices with lithium batteries

Laptops, phones, tablets, cameras, drones, watches, calculators, electric toothbrushes and razors, electric toys and similar personal devices. Carry them in the cabin wherever you can.

• Permitted in, or as, checked baggage — not recommended
• Permitted in, or as, cabin baggage
• Our approval is required above 100 Wh

• Up to 100 Wh or 2 g LC per device, and no more than 15 devices with their batteries per passenger.
• Above 100 Wh and up to 160 Wh, our written approval is required. Ask for it when you book, at [email protected].
• Protect each device from damage and from switching itself on. Pack multiple devices separately, in their original boxes or wrapped in clothing.
• In checked baggage: no more than three devices larger than a phone; switch each one fully off, with alarms and scheduled functions disabled; keep them away from anything readily flammable such as sprays or fragrances; and pack them in a rigid, padded case.
• When a device is plugged into the aircraft's power supply it must stay visible and within reach.

Devices with batteries that contain no lithium

Alkaline manganese, carbon-zinc, nickel-cadmium and nickel-metal-hydride batteries, in the same sorts of personal devices.

• Permitted in, or as, checked baggage
• Permitted in, or as, cabin baggage

• The same packing rules apply: off, protected, padded, and packed separately from one another.
• Sealed lead batteries, including gel batteries, are limited to 12 V and 100 Wh each and must contain no free or unabsorbed liquid.

Power banks

A power bank is not treated as a personal electronic device. Its only purpose is to store power, so it counts as a spare battery and travels with you in the cabin.

• Not permitted in, or as, checked baggage
• Permitted in, or as, cabin baggage
• Our approval is required above 100 Wh

• Up to 100 Wh or 2 g LC each, and no more than two per passenger.
• Above 100 Wh and up to 160 Wh, tell us when you book at [email protected].
• Charging a power bank, or charging from one, is not permitted on board — the sole exception being an approved medical device.
• Keep power banks out of the overhead locker. They belong under the seat in front of you, in the seat pocket, in your cabin bag or on your person, where a problem would be noticed at once.
• Protect the terminals against short circuits: the original packaging, tape over the contacts, or a separate case or bag for each one.

Spare and loose batteries

Every loose battery must have its terminals individually insulated — in its original packaging, with tape over the contacts, or each one in its own case or bag. Charging batteries on board is not permitted.

• Not permitted in, or as, checked baggage
• Permitted in, or as, cabin baggage
• Our approval is required above 100 Wh or 2 g LC

* The quantity of 20 covers all types together — sealed lead, dry, gel and lithium batteries and power banks.

** Medical equipment only.

Sealed lead spare batteries are limited to 12 V / 100 Wh each, two per passenger.

Mobility aids and medical equipment

Wheelchairs and battery-powered mobility aids

We carry wheelchairs and mobility aids, but battery type, total weight and the dimensions of the device all have to be checked against the aircraft beforehand.

• Our written approval is required before travel

Send the manufacturer's data sheet or manual to [email protected] at least 48 hours before departure so we can register the device and complete the review. If you would rather speak to someone, call +30 210 9607400.

Portable battery-powered medical devices

Defibrillators, CPAP machines, portable oxygen concentrators and similar equipment.

• Our written approval is required, together with a medical permit for use on board

Lithium batteries for these devices may go up to 160 Wh or 8 g LC; sealed lead batteries up to 100 Wh and 12 V. Write to [email protected] with the device details at least 48 hours before departure.

Pacemakers and medical implants

Pacemakers and other medical devices containing radioisotopes or powered by lithium batteries, whether implanted or worn externally, are carried without restriction.

• Permitted on your person

Specific items

Avalanche rescue backpacks

• Our written approval is required before travel

One per passenger. The trigger mechanism usually contains a dangerous good, so the limits depend on its type: a pyrotechnic trigger may hold no more than 200 mg net of explosive in Hazard Division 1.4S; a lithium-battery trigger no more than 100 Wh or 2 g LC; a capacitor trigger must be uncharged, protected against short circuits and inside strong outer packaging; and an integrated gas cartridge must fall within Hazard Division 2.2.

The pack must be unable to fire accidentally, the airbag must have pressure-relief valves, and a 2.2 gas cartridge is accepted only as a unit with the backpack as the manufacturer intends. Spare cartridges and additional trigger handles are not carried.

Battery-powered personal transport devices

• Not carried as baggage, in the cabin or the hold

Hoverboards, airwheels, solowheels, mini-segways and segways, balance bikes, electric bicycles and pedal-assist bicycles, electric scooters and monocycles, electric skis and snowboards, underwater scooters, e-baggage scooters and anything similar. The prohibition applies whatever the battery's capacity, whether the battery is fixed or removable, and even if the device has no battery fitted at all. These items travel only as cargo, under the IATA Dangerous Goods Regulations.

Diving lamps, welding equipment and other heat-producing devices

• Our written approval is required before travel

For personal use only, within the overall limit of 15 portable electronic devices per passenger. The device must be switched off, and the heating element must be isolated from its power — by removing the heating component, the battery, or another essential part. The rules above for loose batteries and for devices with lithium batteries apply as well. Tell us when you book, at [email protected].

Dry ice

• Our written approval is required before travel

Up to 2.5 kg net per passenger, and only as a coolant for perishable goods that are not themselves dangerous. The packaging must let gas escape. Each bag containing it must be marked “Dry ice” or “Carbon dioxide, solid” with the net weight, or a statement that the net weight is 2.5 kg or less. Register it when you book, at [email protected].

Fuel cells and spare cartridges

Fuel cell systems that power cameras, phones, laptops and camcorders, together with their spare cartridges, must be packed so they cannot be damaged. Spare cartridges are limited to two per passenger, and spare cartridges are the only part accepted in checked baggage.

• Volume limits: 200 ml for liquids; 200 g for solids; 120 ml of liquefied gas in a non-metallic cell or cartridge, or 200 ml in a metallic one; 120 ml water capacity for hydrogen in a metal hydride.
• Each cartridge must be marked as conforming to IEC PAS 62282-6-100 Ed. 1 including Amendment 1, with the maximum quantity and type of fuel shown.
• Each system must be marked by its manufacturer “Approved for carriage in aircraft cabin only”, and must not recharge a device while that device is idle.
• Fuel cells may contain only flammable liquids, corrosive substances, liquefied gases, water-reactive substances or hydrogen in a metal hydride. A system whose only function is to charge a battery is not accepted.
• Refilling or recharging a fuel cell on board is not permitted; fitting a replacement cartridge is.

Hairstyling devices with a hydrocarbon gas cartridge

One device per passenger, with the safety cover fitted firmly over the heating element. Using it on board is not permitted, and gas refills for these devices are not carried at all.

Insulated packaging containing liquid nitrogen — dry shippers

• Our written approval is required before travel

Accepted only where the liquid nitrogen is fully absorbed into a porous material, the contents are not themselves dangerous goods, no pressure can build inside the container, and nothing can escape whichever way up it is placed. Register it when you book, at [email protected], and tell us about any handling requirement such as keeping it upright.

Life jackets and self-inflating safety equipment

• Our written approval is required before travel

Two units per passenger, each designed to be worn by one person. Each may hold up to two small integrated gas cartridges of non-toxic, non-flammable gas in Hazard Division 2.2 without a subsidiary hazard — carbon dioxide, typically — plus up to two small spare cartridges. The cartridges may serve no purpose other than inflation, and the equipment must be packed so it cannot inflate by accident. Equipment with a pyrotechnic release mechanism in Hazard Division 1 is not carried. Register it when you book, at [email protected].

Magnetised material

• Not carried — material classified UN 2807

This covers ferromagnetic metals and shielding with a high field strength such as magnetrons, unshielded permanent magnets without their keeper bars, and any magnetised object strong enough to deflect a compass by 2 degrees at 2.1 m — that is, at least 0.418 A/m or 0.000525 gauss.

Everyday consumer goods containing magnets are below that threshold and travel normally: fridge magnets, magnetic knife racks, phone and card cases, magnetic charging connectors. Magnetic shark-deterrent bracelets must travel in the manufacturer's shielded box. Electromagnets inside equipment such as detectors are accepted if switched fully off, protected against accidental activation, or disconnected from their power source.

Non-infectious specimens

Preserved specimens — mammals, birds, amphibians, reptiles, fish, insects and other invertebrates — containing small quantities of the flammable liquids UN 1170, UN 1198, UN 1219 or UN 1987, up to one litre of flammable liquid per outer packaging.

• Inner packaging, either: wrapped in paper towel or gauze moistened with alcohol or an alcoholic solution and sealed in a plastic bag; or placed in a vial or secure container of alcohol or alcoholic solution, with no more than 30 ml of free liquid. Either way the result is sealed into a second plastic bag with absorbent material.
• Outer packaging: strong, with suitable cushioning, and marked once sealed “Scientific research specimens, not restricted Special Provision A180 applies”.

Infectious material is never carried as baggage — blood samples, tissue, fungal, bacterial or viral cultures capable of infecting humans or animals, and anything classified UN 3373.

Oxidising substances and organic peroxides

• Not carried, in the cabin or the hold

Including bleach and bleaching powder, swimming-pool chemicals and dyes.

Parachutes with an automatic activation device

Where a parachute carries a pyrotechnic automatic activation device such as a Cypres AAD, you must travel with written documentation from a competent national authority describing the device and confirming that it is not classified as a dangerous good. Without that documentation the parachute is not carried.

Permeation devices

• Permitted in checked baggage only
• Not permitted in, or as, cabin baggage

Accepted where they are used to calibrate air-quality monitoring equipment.

Powder and powder-like substances

We would rather you did not carry powders in the cabin at all. Where you do, the total volume is limited to 350 ml. Medicines, baby food, human ashes, and powders bought inside the airport's security area in a sealed transparent container are outside this limit. Security staff may refuse a powder below 350 ml if its nature cannot be established.

Security-type attaché cases and cash boxes

• Not carried, in the cabin or the hold

This includes any document case, cash box or cash bag fitted with an alarm, a dye pack or a similar built-in device.

Thermometers and barometers containing mercury

One small medical or clinical mercury thermometer per passenger, for personal use, inside a protective case. Meteorological thermometers and mercury barometers are not carried.

Never carried, in cabin or hold

Beyond the items above, the following are refused in both cabin and checked baggage. The list is not exhaustive.

• Explosives and pyrotechnics. Ammunition, detonators and fuses, explosives and explosive devices, replicas and imitations, fireworks, flares of any kind, party poppers, sparklers and toy caps.
• Weapons and ammunition other than for hunting or sporting purposes, carried under separate arrangement.
• Compressed gases — flammable, non-flammable, refrigerated or toxic. Butane, propane, acetylene, oxygen in quantity, liquid nitrogen, camping gas and diving cylinders. Carbon dioxide cartridges over 50 ml for carbonating water.
• Flammable liquids and solids. Petrol, diesel, lighter fuel, alcohol and ethanol as fuel, paints, varnishes, thinners, solvents and cleaning agents, spray paint, turpentine, barbecue lighters and fuel paste, dry spirit, charcoal, matches in quantity. Alcoholic drinks above 70% by volume, and drinks between 24% and 70% beyond 5 litres.
• Substances that emit flammable gas on contact with water, such as carbide.
• Corrosives. Acids, alkalis and bases, wet-cell batteries, mercury, chlorine, rust removers and rust-proofing compounds, sulphur dioxide solutions and chemistry sets.
• Poisons and infectious substances. Rat poison, insecticides, herbicides, arsenic, cyanide, and any material carrying pathogens.
• Radioactive material.
• Combustion engines and petrol-powered tools — chainsaws, lawnmowers, emergency generators and the like, whether new in their packaging or previously used.
• Breaching pens, thermal lances and magnesium cutting tools.
• Signal horns.
• Televisions.
• Underwater torches with the battery fitted, and alarm devices with a lithium battery installed to power them.
• Any other material that is magnetic, harmful, toxic, oxidising, strongly smelling or irritant.

Liquids in checked baggage must be packed so that a leak cannot damage other baggage.

If in doubt, ask before you fly

This page cannot cover everything, and the classification of an item sometimes turns on a detail of its construction that only its manufacturer's data sheet will show. If you are unsure, send us the details before you travel: [email protected] or +30 210 9607400. Where an item needs our approval, allow at least 48 hours before departure.

Last reviewed: 25 September 2026.