DUBAI : Civil aviation authorities in the Emirates have banned the use of Samsung’s Galaxy Note 7 on all its national carriers because of the risk of batteries exploding in the “phablet” smartphone.

“The General Civil Aviation Authority has banned operating, charging and carrying in bags the Samsung Note 7 on board national carriers’ flights,” it said in a statement carried by the official WAM news agency today.

Samsung last week suspended sales of its latest flagship smartphone and announced a recall of 2.5 million units already sold, after faulty batteries caused some handsets to explode during charging. Since then, airlines or air safety agencies around the world have warned passengers against using them on flights. Yesterday, the US Consumer Product Safety Commission urged Note 7 owners to stop using it. Dubai’s Emirates Airline, the largest Middle East carrier, said it will comply “immediately” with the instruction from civil aviation. “This measure is to avoid the possibility of these devices’ batteries causing fires,” it said. Another carrier in the United Arab Emirates, Etihad Airways, has already temporarily banned the use of the Galaxy Note 7 smartphones on board its flights, and the UAE also has two low-cost airlines, flydubai and Air Arabia. Singapore Airlines, Australia’s Qantas, and Virgin Australia have announced similar bans. US and Japanese aviation authorities have urged passengers not to turn on or charge the large-screen phones on aircraft, while the US Federal Aviation Administration has told passengers not to stow the device in checked baggage.—PTI