Virgin Atlantic and Air New Zealand has joined the growing list of airlines to completely ban Samsung Galaxy Note 7 devices on flights.
Virgin said customers won’t be able to travel with the phones on any of its flights ‘whether on their person, in carry-on baggage, or in checked baggage’.
It said the decision follows the emergency order from the US Department of Transport at the weekend, which banned the phone on all US airlines.
“Whilst we understand that this may inconvenience some customers, the safety and security of our customers and crew has to be our top priority,” said a Virgin spokeswoman.
Air Berlin, AirAsia, Qantas, Singapore Airlines, Emirates, Malaysia Airlines, All Nippon Airways and Air New Zealand have also already banned the smartphone.
British Airways and Lufthansa have banned the device on all flights to, from, or within the US, Canada or Hong Kong, but not on other services.
Despite the FAA’s ban in the US, the Civil Aviation Authority has not followed suit and continues to advise UK carriers to allow the phone, but to force passengers to keep it in their hand baggage and to ensure it is switched off.
A CAA spokesman said it is watching the situation closely but has no plans to change its advice.
Air travellers who try to take Samsung Galaxy Note 7 smartphones on flights where they are banned will be denied boarding and face stiff fines and will have the device confiscated.
There have been about 100 incidents of phone batteries catching fire or overheating with at least 13 people reporting burns.