Security tips for air travellers

Before you leave

When you are preparing for your trip, remember to pack smart - pack safe.
You cannot bring the items listed below on your person or in carry-on luggage.

• Knives of any length, composition, or description.

• All cutting and puncturing instruments. This includes pocketknives, carpet knives and box cutters, ice picks, straight razors, metal scissors, and metal nail files.

• Corkscrews.

• Athletic equipment that could be used as a weapon, such as baseball/softball bats, golf clubs, pool cues, ski poles, and hockey sticks.

• Fireworks - signal flares, sparklers, or other explosives.

• Flammable liquids or solids - fuel, paints, lighter refills, matches.

• Household items - drain cleaners and solvents.

• Pressure containers - spray cans, butane fuel, scuba tanks, propane tanks, CO2 cartridges, and self-inflating rafts.

• Weapons - firearms, ammunition, gunpowder, mace, tear gas, or pepper spray.

• Other hazardous materials: dry ice, gasoline-powered tools, wet-cell batteries, camping equipment with fuel, radioactive materials (except limited quantities), poisons, and infectious substances.

• Beware - many common items used everyday in the home or workplace may seem harmless, however, when transported by air, they can be very dangerous. In flight, variations in temperature and pressure can cause items to leak, generate toxic fumes or start a fire.

• Personal care items containing hazardous materials (e.g., flammable perfume, aerosols) totaling no more than 70 ounces may be carried on board. Contents of each container may not exceed 16 fluid ounces.

• Matches and lighters may only be carried on your person. However, "strike-anywhere" matches, lighters with flammable liquid reservoirs, and lighter fluid are forbidden.

• Firearms and ammunition may not be carried by a passenger on an aircraft. However, unloaded firearms may be transported in checked baggage if declared to the agent at check in and packed in a suitable container. Handguns must be in a locked container. Boxed small arms ammunition for personal use may be transported in checked luggage. Amounts may vary depending on the airline.

• Dry ice (4 pounds or less) for packing perishables, may be carried on board an aircraft provided the package is vented.

• Electric wheelchairs must be transported in accordance with airline requirements. The battery may need to be disconnected, removed, and the terminals insulated to prevent short circuits.

• Leave gifts unwrapped. Airline security personnel will open gifts if the X-ray scan cannot determine the contents.

• If in doubt, don't pack it.