ok so this is partly my fault but also the rules were not clear at all. was flying through dubai connecting to maldives and i had my lipo batteries in my carry on like you're supposed to. security pulled me aside and apparently emirates has a thing where you need prior approval to even transit with drone batteries over a certain watt hour rating. my two intelligent flight batteries for the air 3 are 91wh each which is under the 100wh limit but they still flagged it and held me up for like two hours before eventually letting me through with a warning.

then in the maldives itself everything was fine, the resort i stayed at actually had a designated area to fly from which was cool. but getting there was a whole thing. moral of the story i guess is dont assume the 100wh rule applies the same everywhere, some airlines and airports have their own policies on top of IATA guidelines and it can catch you off guard even if youve traveled with drones before. ive done probably 8 or 9 trips with no issue and this was the first time i ran into real friction

the maldives resort thing is real, some of them are actually really drone friendly and a few have started cracking down after guests got complaints from other guests about privacy. which resort were you at? curious if its one of the bigger ones on north male atoll

honestly every time i read something like this i just leave the drone at home for international trips, too much hassle. had a buddy get his mavic 3 held at customs in thailand for a week because he didnt have the import paperwork and by the time they sorted it out his trip was basically over. not worth it for me personally but i get why people still do it