BYO charging cable, as Virgin bans use of power bank batteries

Virgin Australia’s ban on the use of portable ‘power bank’ batteries is now in force (with Qantas to follow from mid-December). What does this mean for travellers?

While you can still bring a rechargeable power bank onto your flight, in your carry-on bag, it can’t be used on board:

• you can’t connect your phone, tablet or any other device to the power bank to charge them up en route, and
• you can’t plug the power bank into the plane’s USB socket to charge it up

For that reason, we strongly recommend bringing along a USB charging cable with you so you can plug your phone, tablet etc into the seat’s USB power outlet.

Virgin says almost 90% of its Boeing 737 jets have a USB socket for every passenger, with the entire fleet to include in-seat power by June 2026.

Before you board the flight, it might also be worth taking advantage of a quick top-up using power outlets in the lounge or the terminal.

Virgin permits each passenger to travel with up to two power banks of no more than 100 Watt-hours (Wh) each.

Even this powerful Anker battery falls under Virgin's 100Wh limit.

That covers pretty much every power bank on the market – even the chunky Anker Laptop Power Bank, which with its 25 amp-hour (Ah) capacity can fully recharge a MacBook Air and have juice to spare for an iPhone, is rated at 90Wh.

Also safe to bring on Virgin Australia flights are most Ryobi ONE+ batteries used by tradespeople, up to the mid-range 5Ah/90Wh models.

However, any power bank battery must remain within easy reach – such as in a seat pocket or under the seat in front of you – rather than be stowed in any bag in the overhead luggage bin.