Air NZ bans all fire-risk Samsungs

Air New Zealand has issued a total ban on fire-prone Samsung Galaxy Note 7 smartphones on all of its flights from 5am today.

In an announcement late last night, the airline strongly advised travellers not to bring these devices to the airport with them.

‘‘They cannot be accepted for travel and there is no storage facility available for them at our check-in areas,’’ an Air New Zealand spokeswoman said.

The Civil Aviation Authority this week told airlines they had to ensure passengers turned off any Note 7s when travelling, but fell short of an outright ban.

Air New Zealand’s move echoes an emergency order issued by the US Department of Transportation banning the devices from either being taken on board or shipped as air cargo on any flights into or within the US.

Following reports of fires linked to overheating lithium batteries, Samsung has recalled more than 2.5 million of the smartphones worldwide, citing a battery manufacturing error, and discontinued the product earlier this week, less than two months after its August release.

In New Zealand, customers will be given $100 compensation – on top of a cash or credit refund – to compensate them for the ‘‘stress’’ and inconvenience of having to return the smartphones. New Zealand Post has asked them to return the devices in person, given the safety risk to postal or courier services.

The US Consumer Product Safety Commission says there have been nearly 100 reports of batteries in Note 7 phones overheating in the US.

A fire erupted on a Southwest Airlines flight this month. In another case, a Florida family reported a Galaxy Note 7 left charging in their Jeep caught fire, destroying the vehicle.

Lightweight, powerful lithium batteries are ubiquitous in consumer electronic devices and have caused problems in everything from laptops to Tesla cars to Boeing’s 787 Dreamliner.

They are more susceptible to overheating than other types of batteries if they are exposed to high temperatures, are damaged or have manufacturing flaws.

Overheating can lead to ‘‘thermal runaway’’ in which temperatures continue escalating to very high levels. Flames will often reappear after initially being quenched.