Singapore Airlines joined several other airlines in banning a few models of the 15-inch MacBook Pro laptops from all flights after Apple recalled those models of older generation devices, The Jakarta Post reported
This follows directives from the European Union Aviation Safety Agency and the United States Federal Aviation Administration that alerted airlines of the recall and banned the laptop models from flights, the report said.
In an announcement on its website on Sunday, SIA said that customers are to refrain from bringing the affected models as carry-on items or in checked baggage until the battery has been verified as safe or replaced by the manufacturer.
The airline advised passengers to visit Apple’s page on its MacBook Pro battery recall programme to get more information on whether their laptops are affected as well as battery replacement options.
In June, Apple announced a voluntary recall of some of its 15-inch MacBook Pro laptops which contain batteries that may overheat and pose a safety risk.
The affected units were mainly sold between September 2015 and February 2017, and they can be identified by their product serial numbers, Apple said on its website.
The tech giant added that it would replace the batteries free of charge, the report said.
Customers should visit Apple’s battery recall programme page for details on product eligibility and how to have the battery replaced for free.
To confirm if a MacBook Pro is affected by the recall, choose “About This Mac” from the Apple menu in the upper-left corner of the laptop’s screen.
If it is “MacBook Pro (Retina, 15-inch, Mid 2015)”, enter the computer’s serial number on the programme page to see if it is eligible for a battery replacement.
Thai Airways, Virgin Australia and Qantas have also invoked similar rules on the MacBook Pro units.
In the past couple of years, the use of lithium-ion batteries has been linked to fires and spewing smoke in a slew of products, including Samsung’s now-canceled Galaxy Note 7, hoverboard and Boeing’s 787 Dreamliner, CNET.com reported.