Virgin Atlantic bans Sony batteries on flights

Richard Branson is the latest person to pick on Sony. Branson’s Virgin Atlantic airline is the third and most recent airline to restrict Sony batteries in Dell and Apple laptops from their flights. You can still use the laptop on the flights, but the battery has to be removed and you have to use the seat-side power supplies. If you are in a class that has seat-side power that is.

Like an earlier ban on Korean Air your battery may be in your carry-on baggage, but it must be wrapped up and kept separately from the computer. You are also limited to carrying two batteries with you. Virgin intends to keep the ban in place until this ‘safety issue has been resolved’. In other words, if you fly economy on the airline don’t expect to use your Inspiron any time soon. Or you Latitude, iBook, PowerBook, MacBook or MacBook Pro for that matter.