Three more airlines have joined the fleets that have banned the Samsung Galaxy 7 from checked baggage, and are asking passengers not to turn on or charge these smartphones on aircraft.
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Cebu Pacific advised passengers not to use the Samsung Galaxy Note 7 cell phone on board their aircraft starting September 11, Sunday until further notice.
Samsung’s Australian arm wants consumers to power down their Galaxy Note 7 smartphones as soon as possible and return them amid a massive global recall.
Meanwhile, the US Consumer Product Safety Commission on Friday urged anyone owning a Samsung Galaxy Note 7 to stop using the large-screen “phablet” smartphone.
Samsung, increasingly squeezed by Apple’s iPhone in the high-end segment and Chinese rivals in the low-end market, launched the Note 7 earlier than expected – ahead of the September 7 launch of the iPhone 7. That move came after Samsung’s investigation into reports of fires found that rechargeable lithium batteries manufactured by one of its suppliers were at fault.
Samsung said that it is working on fixing the issue that was primarily caused due to a battery flaw.
The U.S. was among the first countries to take a step following the recall.
Aviation authorities and airlines across the world have also issued bans or guidelines prohibiting passengers from turning on or charging the phone inside airplanes in response.
Scandinavian Airlines said Saturday that it has prohibited passengers from using the Galaxy Note 7 on its flights because of concerns about fires.
There is also another option, which is to trade in the Note 7 for a Galaxy S7/S7 Edge and get a refund that will depend on the prices on the two Galaxy flagships.
Samsung Pakistan also delayed the launch date of Note 7 in Pakistan and halted the pre-orders.
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Samsung released the Galaxy Note 7 on August 19.
