On July 15, the Beijing Daxing Airport police disclosed an incident involving a foreign male passenger who caused a disturbance by vaping in an airplane restroom. The individual has since faced penalties.
The report states that on the evening of June 14, 2024, during a flight from Zhoushan to Beijing Daxing, the aircraft’s smoke alarm was suddenly triggered while cruising at high altitude. To avoid causing panic among passengers, the flight crew efficiently executed their emergency procedures. The source of the alarm was identified as the rear lavatory, where a foreign passenger was discovered vaping.
Upon arrival, officers from the Daxing Airport Terminal Substation conducted an investigation. The passenger admitted to vaping in the restroom, wrongly assuming that the smoke detector would not activate. As a result, he received administrative detention under the Public Security Administration Punishments Law.
The police emphasized the “Notice of the Public Security Bureau of the Civil Aviation Administration of China on Maintaining Civil Aviation Order and Ensuring Air Transport Safety”, which explicitly bans smoking, including electronic cigarettes, on board aircraft. Violators of this notice are subject to penalties by public security authorities as per the “Law of the People’s Republic of China on Public Security Administration Punishments”. Those whose actions constitute a crime will face criminal charges accordingly.
