Charter sailors have known the pain for years: When trying to take the lifejacket on an airplane, there are difficulties, especially when it comes to vests of the highest buoyancy classes that have very large CO2 cartridges. Because the requirements of the international flight regulations for dangerous goods provided for an upper limit for the volume of the bottle. That’s over now.
As announced by the management of Secumar, the German manufacturer managed, on its own initiative, to lift the size limit for CO2 cartridges in life jackets that can be carried in flight luggage on January 1, 2019. This was decided by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) at a meeting of the "Dangerous Goods Panel", which determines the limit values and dangerous goods. The international air transport association IAT also adopted the decision. This was preceded by an initiative by Bernhardt Apparatebau, the manufacturer of Secumar vests.
This means that from now on each passenger can carry a life jacket with a maximum of two CO₂ cartridges and no more than two spare cartridges in their luggage. Life jackets and cartridges are best kept in checked baggage, and the cartridge should be unscrewed from the release mechanism before the flight. Taking it with you in hand luggage is limited and often difficult, as the security officers at the airport ultimately decide what is allowed on board and what is not. There are always cases in which at least the cartridge is then "cashed in" by airport employees who are not up to date.
Secumar has compiled detailed information on all the details on their website here.