Restricted items in hand baggage
Liquids
You can bring your shampoo and other liquids in small containers up to 100 ml per item. Please pack all liquids together in 1 transparent and closed plastic bag with a total volume of up to 1 litre*. If you want to bring more than that, you can pack the rest in your checked baggage. Please note: from 1 September 2024, it will no longer be permitted to take a filled bottle (containing water or other beverages) through security.
* A transparent and closed plastic bag with a total volume of up to 1 litre is recommended.
You’re always allowed to bring:
- baby food to be consumed during the flight;
- medicines to be taken during the flight, together with a prescription or doctor's statement;
- specific diet foods to be consumed during the flight;
- sealed tax-free items.
Electronics and lithium batteries
You’re allowed to bring 15 electronic devices with a lithium battery up to 100 Wh, and 20 spare lithium batteries or power banks up to 100 Wh. If you want to bring a lithium battery up to 160 Wh with you in your hand baggage, either in a device or as a spare, you need to request permission. Batteries larger than 160 Wh are never allowed. Devices and batteries should not be damaged, defective, or recalled.
On flights from or via Dubai, it is forbidden to bring pagers and walkie talkies. They will be confiscated at Dubai airport.
Please pack each spare battery separately in their original packaging. Don't have it anymore? Cover the contact points with non-conductive tape and pack each battery in a separate plastic bag. Be aware that you are not allowed to recharge spare batteries on board.
Note that there are a number of devices that you can bring but cannot use on board: remote control toys, televisions, transmitters, VHF scanners or receivers, and devices with an enabled cellular network service. These devices might interfere with the systems in our aircraft.
Electronic cigarettes
On most routes, you’re allowed to bring an electronic cigarette and extra batteries if you keep them on you personally during your flight. Unfortunately, you cannot keep your e-cigarette in your hand baggage. Note that rules may differ per country. We advise you to check the legal restrictions of the countries you’re visiting.
Using an electronic cigarette or recharging it or its batteries is never allowed on board.
To and from India
Please note that it is not allowed to bring e-cigarettes and e-cigarette accessories on flights to and from India. E-cigarettes and accessories in hand baggage and checked baggage are confiscated during the security check at airports in India.
Smart baggage
You can bring a smart bag equipped with a lithium battery other than a button cell if you remove this battery. Can’t remove it? Then it’s not allowed to bring the bag with you, neither on board nor in the hold.
Powders to or from the US
Are you travelling to or from the United States? You can bring powders and powder-like substances in your hand baggage, but only up to 350 ml per item. If you want to bring more than that, you can pack the rest in your checked baggage. If the powder is unsealed and there are any signs of tampering, you cannot bring it at all.
We advise you to pack all powders in your checked luggage if you do not need it during the flight, to speed up the time you have to spend at the security check.
Urns are excluded from these restrictions.
Prohibited items
You are not allowed to bring the following items in your hand baggage:
You cannot bring any self-balancing or personal movement devices that operate on a lithium battery, even if the battery is disconnected or removed. This includes:
- Hoverboards
- Airboards
- Oxboards
- E-skates
- Waveboards
- U-runners
- Electric motorised baggage
You cannot bring guns, firearms, or other devices on board that can be used to cause serious injury by discharging a projectile. This includes:
- Firearms of all types, such as pistols, revolvers, rifles, and shotguns
- Toy guns, replicas, and imitation firearms that can be mistaken for real weapons
- Firearm components (except for telescopic viewing equipment and viewfinders)
- Air pistols, air rifles, pellet guns, and BB guns (ball bearing guns)
- Signal flare pistols and starting pistols
- Bows, crossbows, and arrows
- Harpoon guns and spear guns
- Slingshots and catapults
You cannot bring any tools on board that are designed to stun or immobilise. This includes:
- Devices for shocking, such as stun guns, tasers, stun batons, cattle prods, and ballistic conducted energy systems
- Animal stunners and animal killers
You cannot bring any pointed or edged objects on board that could be used to cause injury. This includes:
- Arrows and darts
- Axes, hatchets, cleavers, machetes and other items designed for chopping
- Ice axes and ice picks
- Razor blades (except for of disposable razor blades)
- Scissors, box cutters, jack knives, flick knives, scalpels
- Box cutters
- Ice skates, climbing irons
- Sabres, swords, and sword sticks
- Needles and crochet hooks
You cannot bring any tools on board that could be used as a pointed or edged weapon, including:
- Crowbars
- Drills and drill bits, including cordless portable power drills
- Tools with a blade or shaft of more than 6 cm, such as screwdrivers and chisels
- Saws, including cordless portable power saws
- Blowtorches
- Bolt guns, industrial staple guns, and nail guns
You cannot bring any blunt instruments on board that could be used to hit and cause injury. This includes:
- Baseball and softball bats
- Clubs and buttons, such as billy clubs, blackjacks, and nightsticks
- Billiard, snooker, and pool cues
- Fishing rods
- Golf clubs, hockey sticks, lacrosse sticks, and cricket bats
- Kayak or canoe paddles
- Martial arts equipment, such as knuckledusters
- Skateboards and longboards
You can never bring any explosive or flammable substances and devices that may pose a risk to the health or property of passengers and crew. This includes:
- Ammunition
- Blasting caps, detonators, and fuses
- Explosives, explosive devices, explosive materials, replica or imitation explosives
- Mines, grenades, and other explosive military devices
- Fireworks or flares in any form (including firecrackers and toy caps)
- Smoke-generating canisters or cartridges
- Dynamite, gunpowder, and plastic explosives
- Flammable solids and liquids, such as petrol, diesel, lighter fluid, alcohol, and ethanol
- Aerosol paint cans, turpentine, and paint thinner
- Alcoholic beverages exceeding 70% by volume
- Gas and gas bottles, such as butane, propane, and acetylene
- Oxygen gas in large volumes
Small cigarette lighters and safety matches may only be taken on one’s person, not packed as hand baggage.
You can never bring any chemical or toxic substances that may pose a risk to the health or property of passengers and crew. This includes:
- Disabling or incapacitating sprays, such as mace, pepper spray, and tear gas
- Acids and alkalis, such as spillable ‘wet’ batteries
- Corrosive or bleaching substances, such as mercury and chlorine
- Fire extinguishers
- Infectious or biologically hazardous material, such as infected blood, bacteria, and viruses
- Material capable of spontaneous ignition or combustion
- Poisons
- Radioactive material, such as medicinal or commercial isotopes
- Printers or toner cartridges
If you’re flying to the Philippines, you’re not allowed to bring jewellery or amulets made out of living bullets or empty bullet shells.
If you're travelling to Kenya, Tanzania or Rwanda, you’re not allowed to have any plastic bags with you when entering the country. Do you want to buy tax-free items? We advise you to remove the plastic bag before boarding your flight.
Frequently asked questions
You can bring a maximum of 1 l of liquids in your hand luggage, in containers of 100 ml each. This includes, for instance, liquid deodorant and make-up. Put the small containers into a clear, resealable plastic bag. Need to bring more liquids? You can pack them in your checked luggage.
You are always allowed to bring liquid medications, baby food and special diet foods that you need during the flight. And of course the duty free items you bought at the airport.
Yes, that’s fine! You can bring almost all types of food, as long as they’re not liquid. So no big cartons of yoghurt, for instance. Drinks you can bring if you bought them after the security checkpoint.
You can pack disposable razors in your hand baggage. Other types of razors need to be checked in.
There are no limitations from our side as to how much money you can bring aboard an airplane. Do check the customs website - you may need to declare it.
Need help?
Although we’ve included most restricted or banned items, different local rules may apply. Please check the local airport and airline restrictions as well.
Is your item not mentioned on this page or do you have any questions about your hand baggage? Please contact your travel agency or the KLM Customer Contact Centre.