CO2
Air traveling with CO2 cylinders
General:
Since 1st January 2019 travelers can take an inflatable lifejacket on board of an aircraft. Each passenger may carry one sens07vest and no more than two spare CO₂ cartridges in their luggage. The size limits for CO₂ cartridges in life jackets that applied until the end of 2018 have been lifted, so even the big 95gr CO₂ cartridges should be accepted. These changes were made in the “Dangerous Goods Panel” of ICAO, a sub-organization of the UNO, and incorporated into the ICAO T.I. 2019-2020 released regulations so they are valid worldwide. They were also included in the dangerous goods regulations of the IATA (DGR).
Approval required:
According to ICAO T.I. and IATA-DGR the regulations require the approval of the airline to carry lifejackets (including sens07vests).
In order to avoid as many stumbling points as possible in advance, you should contact the airline when booking the flight and point out the request to carry life jacket so this permission can be noted directly on the ticket so usually all discussions are dealt with before arriving at the airport. A reference to the entry on the ticket is sufficient. In individual cases, you will be asked to leave your suitcase at the bulky luggage counter so that it can be separately screened.
Place the additional replacement cartridges directly alongside the lifejacket so that they can be seen together if the bag is checked.
Check-in sens07vest as luggage:
A carry-on as hand luggage is possible. However, staff at the security check may not be informed about these new regulations. They often need to ask the supervisor which takes additional time. In the end, we always got the CO2 cylinders through the security check. However, there is a risk of unavailable supervisors or insufficient information. Therefore we recommend to check-in your lifejacket as luggage.
No obligation to transport:
The airlines can refuse to take the CO2 cylinders because there is no obligation to transport them. Ultimately, it is up to each airline and finally each captain to decide whether he/she allows the passenger, as is their right.
Note regarding the import of sens07vest into Mexico
Recently, we have been receiving more and more feedback from our clients regarding entries into Mexico. The Mexican customs authorities remove the built-in CO2 cylinders of the sens07vest when they are checked into the suitcase. Therefore we recommend transporting the sens07vest in your hand luggage so that the customs authorities can be informed about the IATA recommendation.
Shipping of CO2 cylinders
Sending individual replacement CO₂ cylinders is complex and expensive because such shipments must be declared as "Dangerous Goods". There are 3 methods to legally avoid "Dangerous Goods" declaration for CO₂ cylinders:
A) CO₂ cylinder as part of a life-saving appliance:
Life-saving appliances (such as inflatable life jackets) containing CO₂ cylinders are not subject to the Dangerous Good regulations when carried as cargo. Therefore the sens07vest (including CO₂ cylinder) can be shipped as normal goods. See IATA packing instruction 955 for further information.
B) Purchasing CO₂ cylinders from a local dealer:
We strongly recommend purchasing spare CO₂ cylinders from a local, national dealer (see list below). The actor module needs to be purchased separately from us, see our store.
List will be constantly extended...
C) Shipping CO₂ cylinders with other life-saving appliance:
We are able to send spare CO₂ cylinders by adding a signal tube in order to avoid declaration as "Dangerous Good". The specially designed signal tube from ProVitaTec is a life-saving appliance which can be inflated manually or by the included CO₂ cylinder. This cylinder can also be used for the sens07vest. We recommend to use the cylinder for the sens07vest and to use the signal tube manually, if needed.
Please note that we offer this signal tube package as a special service for customers who can't purchase CO₂ cylinders from a local dealer. If ever possible we recommend source locally, see B).
ProVitaTec
signal tube