Starting next month, airline passengers will not be allowed to bring aboard torch lighters, nor will they be able to place them in checked or carry-on baggage, the Civil Aeronautics Administration (CAA) said yesterday.
Torch lighters are mainly used to light cigars.
In addition, passengers carrying camera tripods or vernier calipers longer than 25cm will need to have them checked as well.
Electroshock weapons containing dangerous items such as explosives, compressed gases or lithium batteries, are prohibited in carry-on baggage or checked baggage and cannot be carried on one’s person.
Meanwhile, passengers can bring needles and syringes aboard for health reasons, provided they report the items and secure approval from aviation police in advance.
The new security regulations will apply to both domestic flights and international flights departing from Taiwan, the CAA said.
The new regulations were introduced as the Montreal-based International Civil Aeronautics Organization under the UN recently prohibited several items in a bid to reinforce aviation security, the CAA said. While the new list of prohibited items is scheduled to be officially announced on Wednesday next week, the CAA started to ban torch lighters from airplanes in January because of a fire that occurred on a Japan Airlines flight last year.
Based on an investigation by the Aviation Safety Council (AEC), the accident involved a passenger seat that was set on fire when a torch lighter slipped between the seat cushions. The fire was extinguished before the aircraft landed safely at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport.
Under the new regulations, passengers are only permitted to carry on their person one small packet of safety matches or one regular cigarette lighter. They cannot place the matches or the lighter in either carry-on or check-in luggage.
Passengers found to have -lighters on them will be asked to strike the lighters to show the flame to aviation police. The lighters will be confiscated if they produce a blue flame.
The CAA banned long camera tripods from carry-on luggage because they can be used as weapons, adding that those bringing cameras that have a small, foldable tripod attachment are exempt from the rule.
The new regulations also set limitations on lithium batteries because they are pyrophoric.
Passengers can only put lithium batteries in carry-on luggage, provided they are covered in insulation tape or placed in plastic bags.
Lithium batteries in portable electronic devices, including watches, calculators, cameras, mobile phones, laptops or videocameras, can be carried aboard without prior approval.
With airline approval, passengers may carry a maximum of two lithium batteries between 100 Watt-hours and 160 Watt-hours. Batteries used to power wheelchairs or mobile aids, security-type equipment or portable medical electronic devices must observe the regulations stated in the UN Manual of Test and Criteria.
GLOBAL ISSUE: If China annexes Taiwan, ‘it will not stop its expansion there, as it only becomes stronger and has more force to expand further,’ the president said China’s military and diplomatic expansion is not a sole issue for Taiwan, but one that risks world peace, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday, adding that Taiwan would stand with the alliance of democratic countries to preserve peace through deterrence. Lai made the remark in an exclusive interview with the Chinese-language Liberty Times (sister paper of the Taipei Times). “China is strategically pushing forward to change the international order,” Lai said, adding that China established the Asia Infrastructure Investment Bank, launched the Belt and Road Initiative, and pushed for yuan internationalization, because it wants to replace the democratic rules-based international
ECONOMIC BOOST: Should the more than 23 million people eligible for the NT$10,000 handouts spend them the same way as in 2023, GDP could rise 0.5 percent, an official said Universal cash handouts of NT$10,000 (US$330) are to be disbursed late next month at the earliest — including to permanent residents and foreign residents married to Taiwanese — pending legislative approval, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. The Executive Yuan yesterday approved the Special Act for Strengthening Economic, Social and National Security Resilience in Response to International Circumstances (因應國際情勢強化經濟社會及民生國安韌性特別條例). The NT$550 billion special budget includes NT$236 billion for the cash handouts, plus an additional NT$20 billion set aside as reserve funds, expected to be used to support industries. Handouts might begin one month after the bill is promulgated and would be completed within
The National Development Council (NDC) yesterday unveiled details of new regulations that ease restrictions on foreigners working or living in Taiwan, as part of a bid to attract skilled workers from abroad. The regulations, which could go into effect in the first quarter of next year, stem from amendments to the Act for the Recruitment and Employment of Foreign Professionals (外國專業人才延攬及僱用法) passed by lawmakers on Aug. 29. Students categorized as “overseas compatriots” would be allowed to stay and work in Taiwan in the two years after their graduation without obtaining additional permits, doing away with the evaluation process that is currently required,
RELEASED: Ko emerged from a courthouse before about 700 supporters, describing his year in custody as a period of ‘suffering’ and vowed to ‘not surrender’ Former Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) chairman Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) was released on NT$70 million (US$2.29 million) bail yesterday, bringing an end to his year-long incommunicado detention as he awaits trial on corruption charges. Under the conditions set by the Taipei District Court on Friday, Ko must remain at a registered address, wear a GPS-enabled ankle monitor and is prohibited from leaving the country. He is also barred from contacting codefendants or witnesses. After Ko’s wife, Peggy Chen (陳佩琪), posted bail, Ko was transported from the Taipei Detention Center to the Taipei District Court at 12:20pm, where he was fitted with the tracking