On February 23, 2016, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) released a notice confirming that the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) Council has approved the ICAO Air Navigation Commission (ICAO ANC) recommendations to the requirements for the air transport of lithium ion batteries proposed by the ICAO ANC.

The ICAO ANC has recommended that standalone lithium ion batteries (UN 3480, PI 965 only) be forbidden, on an interim basis, for carriage as cargo on passenger aircraft. Moreover, all packages of standalone lithium ion batteries will be required to bear the “Cargo Aircraft Only” label in addition to already required marks and labels.

These changes are now confirmed to become effective on April 1, 2016. These changes do not impact carriage of lithium ion batteries packed with or contained in equipment.

The full contents of IATA’s latest lithium batteries notice can be found here