Battery pouch with terminal protection
Amazon Australia
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Can you take AA and AAA batteries on a plane?
Carry-on: Yes Checked: Yes Same on domestic flights
Ordinary alkaline batteries are fine in either bag. Spares still travel better in carry-on with terminals protected.
The distinction that matters is spare versus installed. A torch, camera or toy with the batteries already in it can travel in checked baggage. Loose spares should be in your carry-on, with the terminals protected so they cannot short against keys, coins or each other.
Keeping them in the original retail packaging is the easiest way to do that; a strip of tape over the ends does the same job.
Ordinary alkaline AA and AAA cells are not the batteries the strict rules were written for - those are lithium. But the shorting risk is real for any cell, which is why the carry-on habit is worth keeping even where it is advice rather than prohibition.
Flying within Australia? This rule does not change.
Lithium battery rules are dangerous-goods rules, not screening rules, so they are identical on a domestic flight.
Two rules explain most of this page. Lithium batteries fly in the cabin so the crew can reach them, and the 100ml liquid limit is an international rule. Your flight home is screened under the departure country's rules, which are sometimes stricter than Australia's.
AA and AAA batteries: common questions
Can you take AAA batteries on a plane?
Yes. Ordinary alkaline AA and AAA batteries are permitted, and spares are best carried in your cabin bag with the terminals protected so they cannot short against metal objects.
Can spare batteries go in checked baggage?
Spares belong in carry-on. A device with batteries already installed - a torch, a camera, a child’s toy - can go in checked baggage, but loose cells should travel in the cabin where a problem is visible.
How do you protect battery terminals for a flight?
Leave them in the original retail packaging, or put tape over the ends, or use a dedicated battery case. The aim is simply that the terminals cannot touch keys, coins or each other.
Are alkaline batteries treated differently from lithium ones?
Yes. The strict watt-hour limits and the carry-on-only requirement apply to lithium batteries and power banks. Ordinary alkaline cells are far less restricted, though protecting the terminals is still sensible.
Flying soon? Screening is the easy part
What stops Australians at the airport is more often the passport, the visa or the phone than the bag. Say where you are going and we will show you the entry rules for an Australian passport, what an eSIM actually costs there, and what the insurance covers.
Gear that meets this rule
Chosen because it satisfies the rule above, not because of what it costs. Links go to Amazon Australia and we may earn a commission, which never changes what we recommend.
As an Amazon Associate, this site earns from qualifying purchases.
Batteries & electronics
Laptops and tablets
Best in carry-on, where the crew can reach a battery problem.
Phones
Carry it on.
E-scooters and hoverboards
Their batteries are far over the 160Wh passenger limit, so airlines refuse them in both cabin and hold.
Smart luggage
Allowed if the battery is removable.
Drones
The drone itself can fly either way, but its lithium batteries follow the spare-battery rules: carry-on only, terminals protected, the usual size bands.
AirTags and luggage trackers
Fine in both bags.
What is actually worth booking.
New destination guides and side-by-side comparisons for Australian travellers - which eSIM, which travel card, which insurance is worth paying for, and what to sort before you go. Prices in Australian dollars, a few emails a year.
Packing something else? The full A to Z of what you can take on a plane covers 61 items, the domestic flight rules set out what changes when you are not leaving the country, and the pre-departure checklist puts the rest of the trip in order.
Last reviewed 2 September 2026. Screening, dangerous-goods and biosecurity rules change, and airlines can be stricter than the government baseline. For anything unusual, the linked source and your airline's dangerous-goods page are the final word.