Can I Carry Microwave Oven In Flight?[2025]

Carrying microwave in flight may sound strange to many but a few will agree with me that its a valid query.

Few months back, I was in the same position where I had to carry a Microwave in domestic flight and could not get clear cut answer.

Keep reading for details and my experience…

Is microwave allowed as check-in luggage in airplanes?

Yes, you can carry microwave oven in flight. I carried a microwave oven as check-in luggage in AirAsia.

I was traveling from Bangalore to Pune and found myself in a situation where I had to carry a microwave oven.

I had booked air tickets but was not sure if the microwave is allowed as a check-in bag.

I searched on Google and got posts that said it can be carried but no one had shared their personal experience. It was all about chats with customer care.

My experinece of carrying microwave in flight

There were two main questions that were bothering me:

1. Can i carry microwave in flight?
2. How does airlines handle luggage marked as fragile?

A big risk was in case authorities did not allow microwave on flight, what will I do with it as no one came to drop me. Hence the only option I would have was either cancel the travel or discard the microwave!

How to check in Microwave at airport?

At the check-in counter, the attendant was surprised when I told them I was checking in a microwave.

She called her supervisor and confirmed if it can be checked in. To my relief, the answer was yes!

The attendant asked me if the packing was good, then she pasted Fragile sticker on the box. Instead of putting the box on conveyor belt, she asked another attendant to take it manually.

This gave me some confidence that there will be no problem with the microwave.

I had a 20L LG microwave (20″x11″x15″). Its weight was around 20kg’s and dimension just right for the check-in baggage ie within 27″x21″x14″ (the requirement is that the sum of these sides should not be more than 62″).

I used the box with approximate dimension of 24x14x18. I had a big box in which some stuff was delivered, I cut it out in the size of microwave (with some buffer) and used it.

As I was traveling domestic, the check in bag weight was 15kg’s but since my wife and kid were traveling with me, the airline allowed me to club the weight.

I checked in 2 bags of 22kg and 21kg for the 3 passengers in my itinerary, one of it was the Microwave.

After landing, I was curious to see the status of my microwave.. There were no external visible damages on the box, first level check passed!

We reached home and unpacked the box. To my joy, the Microwave reached its destination without any damage!!

A special thanks to the AirAsia crew for handling the fragile item carefully.

How I packed microwave for carrying it in flight?

The best way will be if you have retained the original packing i.e both the box and thermocol fillers, but this is not very common.

Same was the case with me. I did not have the original packing, so I made a hardboard box from the packing of some other stuff, as per the size of the microwave box!!

Make sure the glass turntable and the wheel attachment is properly secured. I wrapped it in bubble paper & towels and kept it in my check-in box.

Note: Glass is not allowed in cabin luggage, so better put it in check-in luggage.

There was some gap on the front and sides between the microwave and the box, I cushioned it with the extra cardboard.

For cushion, I Made small cylinders from the left over cardboard and pushed it in the gap such that the microwave will not move.

The cylinders were soft enough so that not to put a dent on the microwave and sturdy enough to keep it from moving from its place.

Wrap a lot of packing tape on the outside of box to make it sturdy.

If possible, get a tape with “Fragile” written on it & put/stick it on all the sides of the box.

Conclusion:

Microwave is allowed in flights, both domestic and International as a check in item provided its packed as per check in item guideline.