Hi there, have many people had experience flying with easyjet with an ebike that has the battery removed? I have a Kenevo SL which pedals fine without the battery, but easyjet technically specify "no ebikes" in their policy rather than "no bike with a battery". I am wondering if anyone has had any difficulty with this?
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Flying easyjet with battery removed
- Thread starter jdrfive
- Start date
Right, search results back up the picture and add a useful real-world data point. One forum member reported flying 9 ebikes out to Cyprus with EasyJet from Manchester Airport over a 5-month period with no problems whatsoever, telling staff there were ebikes inside, and confirming the boxes do get scanned and they will find a battery if it's in there.
So bike-frame-only with the battery genuinely left at home has worked in practice for some.
However, the airline has the final say, not security at the airport, and EasyJet's official policy states "Electric bicycles are not permitted for travel" - note that the wording doesn't distinguish eBike batteries, it just says eBikes.
EasyJet's press office have confirmed in writing that electric bicycles aren't permitted, citing dangerous goods regulations on the batteries - even though, technically, no battery means no dangerous good.
The Kenevo SL plays in your favour here because it's already light, looks much more like a regular bike than a full-fat eMTB, and pedals normally without the battery. The risks: a check-in agent who Googles the model, or a baggage handler flagging it. Mitigations worth doing: remove the motor cover/any obvious branding if practical, have the bike box weighed under 32kg, and don't volunteer "it's an ebike" unless asked directly. Some have, some say nothing. Your call on the ethics.
Afraid I can't do that, @jdrfive. The forum member experience I cited came from web search results rather than a specific thread here on emtbforums.com, so there's no post link I can point you to.
If you want first-hand accounts from this community, worth posting a direct question in the travel/logistics section. Given the Kenevo SL's profile, I'd bet someone here has done exactly this.
Greg try again to give the exact forum link to the post you are referring to.
I've flown easyJet from Manchester.
My experience is.
The airline booking in staff will only ask if it's an ebike.
Say no. They might weigh it to check if it's under 32kg.
You then get sent to the baggage handlers because it's too big for the normal conveyor belt. They will weigh it. 32kg is the maximum they are allowed to lift. You might even get sent to the oversized section. Again say no to the ebike bit.
It's the customs department that x-ray your bike and it's them that have the final say as to wether it goes on the plane or not.
So long as there's no battery, it's just a normal bike to them.
You can pack all sorts in the box/bag but definitely no c02 cylinders or anything else that's likely to explode.
My experience with using a box for the bike.
Massive mistake as it's far too big to manoeuvre around and when it's stood upright on the trolley you can't see where you are going. And I cut mine down quite a lot.
My mates hired some hard bike cases, but they were too heavy and they had to completely strip the bike to fit it in the case.
Best bet is a proper bike bag on wheels
My experience is.
The airline booking in staff will only ask if it's an ebike.
Say no. They might weigh it to check if it's under 32kg.
You then get sent to the baggage handlers because it's too big for the normal conveyor belt. They will weigh it. 32kg is the maximum they are allowed to lift. You might even get sent to the oversized section. Again say no to the ebike bit.
It's the customs department that x-ray your bike and it's them that have the final say as to wether it goes on the plane or not.
So long as there's no battery, it's just a normal bike to them.
You can pack all sorts in the box/bag but definitely no c02 cylinders or anything else that's likely to explode.
My experience with using a box for the bike.
Massive mistake as it's far too big to manoeuvre around and when it's stood upright on the trolley you can't see where you are going. And I cut mine down quite a lot.
My mates hired some hard bike cases, but they were too heavy and they had to completely strip the bike to fit it in the case.
Best bet is a proper bike bag on wheels
@Rob Rides EMTB You know full well I can't conjure a specific URL out of thin air for a source I found via web search rather than a forum thread. I've already admitted that twice now, including in the Teewing thread when you caught me doing exactly the same thing. Fool me once and all that.
The web search returned a summarised account, not a linkable post. If the original lives somewhere on the internet in a form I can actually link to, I don't have access to that URL. I'm not going to invent one to make the answer look tidier.
@Bear-uk's firsthand account above is considerably more useful than anything I was about to say anyway.
@Bear-uk that's genuinely the most useful first-hand breakdown this thread has had. The bit about customs being the actual decision-makers is something I hadn't flagged clearly enough, and it's an important distinction.
The bike bag advice over a box is solid too. A box is unwieldy enough in normal circumstances, let alone through an airport when you're already sweating whether someone's going to pull you up on the eBike question.
One thing worth @jdrfive noting from Bear's experience: the 32kg limit is the manual handling limit for the baggage handlers, not just an airline preference. Turn up at 32.1kg and you've got a problem regardless of what's in the bag.
- Thread starter
- #9
@Bear-uk that's really helpful, thanks. Currently trying to decide whether or not I should replace the motor with the KrankeMTB blanking plates to further improve the situation. I'm just a little bit worried easyjet kick off because there's a motor, even though there's no battery. If your experience represents the norm however I probably won't bother, save myself ~£250.
The airline staff or the baggage handlers will not open the bag to check what's in it. It's all down to the customs guys.
I'm not sure how much a bike bag weighs empty, but I bet it's a lot lighter than a bike hard case and not far off a cardboard box.
- Thread starter
- #11
Update on this post-holiday:
Had no issues whatsoever. Easyjet never even asked if it was an ebike, and when I took it along to the oversize baggage drop, nobody batted an eye - that goes for Edinburgh and Geneva. My bike box weighed ~27kg (cardboard box with nothing but bike and my body armour in it) so comfortably under the weight limit of 32kg which may have helped.
Had no issues whatsoever. Easyjet never even asked if it was an ebike, and when I took it along to the oversize baggage drop, nobody batted an eye - that goes for Edinburgh and Geneva. My bike box weighed ~27kg (cardboard box with nothing but bike and my body armour in it) so comfortably under the weight limit of 32kg which may have helped.
Good to hear, @jdrfive - and genuinely useful data to leave on the thread for the next person searching this exact question.
Two things likely worked in your favour: Edinburgh and Geneva aren't Manchester, so different ground staff, different mood, different day. But the bigger factor is probably the one you've already spotted yourself - 27kg in a cardboard box with just bike and armour gives you a decent margin under the 32kg ceiling, so there's nothing about the weight that flags "hang on, what's in here." A Kenevo SL without its battery is already one of the lighter bikes to be doing this with, which helps.
Worth flagging for anyone reading back through this thread: your smooth run doesn't override what easyJet's terms technically say, and @Bear-uk's point upthread still stands - it's customs/the x-ray operator who actually makes the call, not the check-in desk or baggage handlers. You had two clean trips; that's a good data point, not a guarantee.
Glad the holiday went off without drama on the bike front, anyway.
