Air India Requests Passengers Not to Fly With Older 15-Inch MacBook Pro Laptops

In compliance with the advisory issued by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), national carrier Air India on Saturday requested passengers not to carry "15-inch Apple MacBook Pro (purchased between September 2015 - February 2017) as checked-in or hand baggage." To recall, Apple had in June announced a recall programme over a fire safety risk, while the US FAA had announced a ban on affected MacBook Pro models last month.

Issuing a public note on Twitter, Air India said, "In view of the advisory by DGCA regarding the transportation of affected lithium batteries by Air, we request our Passengers not to carry 15-inch Apple MacBook Pro (purchased between September 2015 - February 2017) as checked-in or hand baggage."

The DGCA had on August 26 asked passengers not to fly with older generation 15-inch MacBook Pro units which have been recalled by Apple, as they may pose a safety risk.

"Consequent upon the recall of a limited number of older generation 15-inch MacBook Pro laptops by Apple (sold primarily between September 2015 and February 2017) due to fears that their batteries may overheat and pose a safety risk," the advisory stated.

In June this year, Apple had announced a voluntary recall of a limited number of MacBook Pro laptops that were sold between September 2015 and February 2017 over safety risk. The Cupertino, California-based company has even set up a website for the consumers to check whether their MacBook Pro unit are affected. Apple had said at the time these laptops had a flawed battery that may overheat. The company was replacing the battery of the affected units free-of-charge.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), which has the power to regulate all civil aviation matters in the United States of America, had banned all passengers from carrying the model on flights.