IATA/ICAO lithium-ion air-transport State-of-Charge (SoC) limit effective 1 Jan 2026.

TLDR:

• Jan 1, 2026: Air returns with spare Li-ion batteries in the box (PI 966) must have spares ≤30% SoC or carriers may refuse/delay.

• Brighton Science preference: Return by air with no spare batteries unless you can confirm they’re ≤30%.

• Installed battery (PI 967): ≤30% SoC is recommended, not mandatory; shipping with only the installed battery, or no batteries is fine.

Beginning January 1, 2026, the IATA Dangerous Goods Regulations (67th edition) introduce a mandatory air-transport state of charge limit for lithium-ion batteries packed with equipment under Packing Instruction (PI) 966 / UN 3481. In practice, this covers return shipments where spare batteries are placed in the same outer package as the instrument but are not installed in it. Under PI 966, those spare batteries must be offered for air transport at no more than 30% state of charge (SoC) of rated/design capacity (ICC Compliance Center Inc - USA+2IATA+2). Because handheld instruments returning to Brighton Science are often shipped with one spare battery, this new PI 966 requirement can lead to carrier delays or refusals if the spares are above 30% SoC at tender. Accordingly, Brighton Science recommends that customers shipping instruments back to us by air for repair or calibration do so with no spare batteries included, unless the shipper can confirm that any spares are ≤30% SoC.

By contrast, the battery installed inside the device falls under PI 967 / UN 3481 “lithium-ion batteries contained in equipment.” For PI 967, IATA’s SoC language is framed as a recommendation rather than a mandate—i.e., shippers are advised to keep installed batteries at or below 30% SoC, but air transport is not automatically prohibited if the installed battery is above that level (IATA+2Lion+2). This difference between mandatory PI 966 (spares packed with equipment) and recommended PI 967 (battery contained in equipment) is why Brighton Science’s air-return preference is to send the instrument with only the installed battery and no additional spares, reducing regulatory risk while keeping the return process straightforward.

Shipping any device back to Brighton Science without any batteries is also an acceptable option and will have no adverse effects on the device.  

For Surface Analyst devices the only way to truly verify the battery SoC is less then 30% is to keep it in a device that is turned on until you get a battery warning message or the device will no longer operate.

For BCMobile devices there is a battery percentage indicator at the top of the screen.  Also each battery has a fuel gauge that can be pressed to provide general battery status.  A single green bar indicates 25% or less, which means it is acceptable to ship via air.  Leaving the battery in the device with the device turned on until the desired SoC is reached is the only recommended means of discharging a battery to the required limit.