List of prohibited items: Objects to leave at home

There are rules for what items can travel with you in your hand baggage and what items must be left behind. To help you prepare, this page outlines what can be brought with you on to the plane in your hand baggage, including liquids, medicines and baby food.

icoon uitroepteken Important note

This list is not exhaustive. Your airline may have additional rules that you will need to check with them. We advise you to read the list below for the most common prohibited items. If an object is determined to be a security risk, a security officer has the right of refusal.

Prohibited items in hand baggage

Liquids in containers that exceed 100ml

This applies to all liquids, gels, creams, pastes, balms and aerosols. You can find a list of examples of the different liquids on the Liquids in hand baggage page.

Exceptions
Liquids in containers up to 100ml. They must all fit in a closed, transparent, 1-litre ziplock bag. You are allowed to bring additional liquids, if you can prove you need them – for example, with a doctor’s prescription. Please also see the ‘Hand Baggage’ page.

Firearms, projectiles and/or items that resemble them

If you plan to travel with a firearm and/or ammunition, it must be placed in your hold baggage. You must also be able to show a permit for this in some cases. Toy guns which cannot be distinguished from real guns must be placed in your hold baggage.

  • All types of firearms, such as pistols, revolvers, rifles, shotguns
  • Toy guns, replica and imitation guns that bear striking similarity to real weapons
  • Firearm components, excluding telescopic viewers
  • Air pressure and CO2 guns, such as pistols, shotguns, rifles and BB guns
  • Alarm pistols and start guns
  • Bows, crossbows and arrows
  • Harpoon guns and spear guns
  • Catapults
  • Etc.

Disabling equipment

Items classified as disabling equipment are not allowed on board. This include devices that are designed specifically to anaesthetise, stun or otherwise immobilise human or non-human subjects, such as:

  • Devices that can inflict shocks, like stun guns, laser weapons and cattle prods
  • Devices to stun or kill animals
  • Chemical substances, gases and sprays, such as mace, pepper spray, tear gas, acid spray and sprays to repel animals, which may also disable or immobilise humans
  • Etc.

Sharp tipped or edged objects which may cause injury

You may not take any sharp items which could be used as weapons in your hand baggage. Please note that this also includes house, kitchen or garden objects.

  • Ice axes and ice picks
  • Razor blades *
  • Credit card knifes
  • Box cutters
  • Blades which have a length of over 6 cm
  • Shears which have a length of over 6 cm from hinge to point
  • Martial arts equipment with a sharp point or edge
  • Swords and sabres
  • Crow/jimmy bars
  • Drills, drill bits and drill chucks, including portable cordless electric drills
  • Tools with a blade or shaft that exceeds 6 cm and may be used as a weapon, such as portable cordless electric saws
  • Saws, including portable cordless electric saws
  • Soldering irons/torches
  • Nail and/or staple guns
  • Etc.

Exceptions
Sharp objects with a sharp section that does not exceed 6 cm are permitted, as are * disposable razor blades with a fixed shear blade.

Blunt objects

Blunt objects that can be used to hit, cause serious bodily harm or that can be used to threaten the safety of the aircraft, including:

  • Baseball, softball and cricket bats
  • Clubs and sticks, such as wooden poles, cues, bludgeons or truncheons
  • Martial arts items
  • Etc.

Strictly forbidden items

The following items may not travel with you, whether in hold or hand baggage.

Explosives and flammable objects

Explosives and flammable substances and equipment with which serious injury can be caused or with which the safety of the aircraft can be endangered, or which give the impression that they can be used for this purpose, such as:

  • Ammunition
  • Detonators
  • Detonators and fuses
  • Replicas or imitation of explosive objects
  • Mines, grenades and/or other military explosives
  • Fireworks and other pyrotechnic materials
  • Smoke cans and patterns
  • Dynamite, gunpowder and plastic explosives
  • Etc.

Exceptions Small lighters and safety matches may only be taken if they are worn on the person. Put the item in your pocket rather than in your hand baggage.

Chemical or toxic substances

Chemical or toxic substances are completely forbidden in your baggage, when they could jeopardise the health of your fellow passengers and crew, harm property of other passengers, or pose a risk to health and safety on the aircraft. This includes:

  • Acids and alkalis, such as 'wet' batteries which may leak
  • Caustic or bleaching agents, such as mercury and chlorine
  • Neutralising agents in spray can, such as mace, pepper spray and tear gas
  • Fire extinguishers
  • Infectious or hazardous biological material like infected blood, bacteria and viruses
  • Materials that could spontaneously ignite or ignite
  • Toxins
  • Radioactive material, such as medicinal or commercial isotopes
  • Printers or toner cartridges
  • Etc.

Items that fall under customs import or export regulations

For customs purposes, not everything can be brought in or out of the Netherlands. The following items are forbidden in both hand and hold baggage:

  • Drugs, such as hashish, cocaine, heroin, crystal meth or other narcotics.
  • Weapons, fake weapons, pepper spray, ammunition and explosives
  • Protected animal and plant species - also no products made from them, such as shoes made from crocodile leather or ivory jewellery.

Additional airline rules

Your airline may impose additional rules on what you may or may not take along on the plane. Always check with your airline which objects you cannot take with you in your luggage. These rules often include:

  • Lithium batteries
  • Items that use lithium batteries, such as:
    • Hoverboards
    • Airboards
    • Oxboards
    • E-skates
    • Waveboards
    • U-runners
    • Battery powered suitcases
  • Damaged, faulty or withdrawn portable electronic devices
  • Electronic cigarettes - often only in hand baggage

Exceptions
If you use a self-balancing device due to a physical disability, please ask for permission from your airline before departure.

Prepare for your flight