Kunming Airlines

IATA KY ICAO KNA China (People's Republic of) · www.airkunming.com (opens in a new tab)

Powered chairs need the airline’s prior approval · carried free · 48 h notice · 300 Wh installed-battery cap.

Advance notice: 48hours before departure
Powered wheelchair: Conditional
Lithium, battery installed: 300watt-hours maximum
Cost to carry: Free

Who to contact

Transcribed from the airline’s own pages, exactly as it labels them.

Phone

+86 871 96598

China — Kunming Airlines customer service hotline 0871-96598 (booking, wheelchair and assistance requests)

Kunming Airlines publishes no accessibility email address, no online assistance-request form and no TTY/relay service. Everything goes through the 0871-96598 hotline or a Kunming Airlines direct sales office. All of these pages are Simplified Chinese only — there is no English version.

Read it from the source

Powered wheelchairs & batteries

The part that goes wrong. Battery chemistry and watt-hours decide whether your chair flies, and the rules differ depending on whether the battery can be removed.

Powered chairs accepted

Conditional

Accepted only as checked baggage, only from passengers whose mobility is restricted by disability, health or age, only over the airport check-in counter, and only after a request lodged at booking / at least 48 h ahead that Kunming Airlines confirms within 24 h. The dangerous-goods table marks powered mobility aids as needing the carrier's approval and notification of the captain. Wheelchairs with non-sealed (spillable) batteries are refused outright.

残疾人运输保障规定 (Regulations on the carriage of passengers with disabilities, Simplified Chinese, in force 1 April 2018) (opens in a new tab) · read 2026-07-29 行李服务细则 — 电动轮椅或电动代步工具 (Baggage service rules, section on electric wheelchairs and mobility scooters, Simplified Chinese) (opens in a new tab) · read 2026-07-29 危险品运输规定 (Regulations on dangerous goods carried in passenger baggage, Simplified Chinese) (opens in a new tab) · read 2026-07-29

Lithium-ion batteries

Conditional

Lithium-battery wheelchairs and mobility scooters are accepted as checked baggage with Kunming Airlines' prior approval and notification of the captain; a removable battery must be taken out and carried by the passenger in the cabin.

行李服务细则 — 电动轮椅或电动代步工具 (Baggage service rules, section on electric wheelchairs and mobility scooters, Simplified Chinese) (opens in a new tab) · read 2026-07-29 危险品运输规定 (Regulations on dangerous goods carried in passenger baggage, Simplified Chinese) (opens in a new tab) · read 2026-07-29

Watt-hour cap — battery stays in the chair

300 Wh

"对于装有锂电池的轮椅或电动代步工具，电池额定功率不得超过300Wh" — the battery of a lithium-powered wheelchair or scooter must not exceed 300 Wh; if the device has to be driven by two batteries, neither may exceed 160 Wh.

行李服务细则 — 电动轮椅或电动代步工具 (Baggage service rules, section on electric wheelchairs and mobility scooters, Simplified Chinese) (opens in a new tab) · read 2026-07-29

Watt-hour cap — battery removed into the cabin

300 Wh

The same cap applies once the battery is out: not more than 300 Wh, or 2 × not more than 160 Wh. If the battery can be removed it must be removed and carried by the passenger in the cabin, with the terminals insulated against short circuit.

行李服务细则 — 电动轮椅或电动代步工具 (Baggage service rules, section on electric wheelchairs and mobility scooters, Simplified Chinese) (opens in a new tab) · read 2026-07-29

Watt-hour cap — spare battery

300 Wh

In addition to the chair's own battery you may carry one spare of no more than 300 Wh, or two spares of no more than 160 Wh each. Spares must travel in the cabin with their terminals insulated.

行李服务细则 — 电动轮椅或电动代步工具 (Baggage service rules, section on electric wheelchairs and mobility scooters, Simplified Chinese) (opens in a new tab) · read 2026-07-29

Spare batteries permittedmaximum number under any published configuration

One spare battery of up to 300 Wh, or two spare batteries of up to 160 Wh each. Spares must be carried in the cabin, never in the hold.

行李服务细则 — 电动轮椅或电动代步工具 (Baggage service rules, section on electric wheelchairs and mobility scooters, Simplified Chinese) (opens in a new tab) · read 2026-07-29

Battery must be removed

Yes

"如电动轮椅电池可以拆卸，则该电池必须拆下，并随身携带" — if the lithium battery can be removed it must be removed and carried in the cabin. Kunming's dangerous-goods table words the same rule more loosely (remove only if the aid's design does not protect the battery adequately). A removable sealed-wet / NiMH / dry battery must also be removed, but that one travels in the hold in a strong rigid container.

Non-spillable batteriesgel, AGM, sealed lead-acid, dry cell

Conditional

Wheelchairs and scooters with sealed (non-spillable) wet batteries, nickel-metal-hydride or dry batteries are accepted as checked baggage, but the dangerous-goods table requires the carrier's prior approval and notification of the captain. If the battery is removable it must be removed, packed in a strong rigid container and carried in the hold.

Wet / spillable batteries

"昆明航禁止携带非密封型电池驱动的电动轮椅" — Kunming Airlines prohibits electric wheelchairs powered by non-sealed (spillable) batteries, and the mobility-aid row of its dangerous-goods table repeats 昆明航禁止运输 (Kunming Airlines refuses carriage) for wheelchairs with non-sealed batteries.

Terminal protection & immobilisation

Yes

The terminals of a removed battery and of any spare battery must be insulated to prevent a short circuit.

行李服务细则 — 电动轮椅或电动代步工具 (Baggage service rules, section on electric wheelchairs and mobility scooters, Simplified Chinese) (opens in a new tab) · read 2026-07-29

Paperwork the airline wants

Not published

Not published — Kunming Airlines asks for no battery spec sheet, MSDS, manufacturer label or form. It only requires the carriage request to be lodged at booking / 48 h ahead and the chair to comply with its dangerous-goods rules.

Size limit for a powered chair

Not published

No maximum powered-wheelchair dimensions are published, and no hold-door figures are given for the Boeing 737 fleet.

Weight limit for a powered chair

Not published

Not published — no weight cap for a powered wheelchair appears in the baggage service rules or the disability regulation.

Returned at the aircraft door

Yes

Same rule as for manual chairs: aids are accepted and returned close to the cabin door, are the first items unloaded from the hold, and staff meet the passenger at the aircraft door on arrival.

残疾人运输保障规定 (Regulations on the carriage of passengers with disabilities, Simplified Chinese, in force 1 April 2018) (opens in a new tab) · read 2026-07-29 残障（疾）旅客出行须知 (Travel notice for passengers with disabilities, Simplified Chinese) (opens in a new tab) · read 2026-07-29

An electric wheelchair or mobility scooter must be checked in at the airport counter (not online) and handed over at least 2 hours before the check-in deadline, and is accepted only from passengers whose mobility is restricted by disability, health or age.

Manual wheelchairs

Manual chairs accepted

Yes

A 折叠轮椅 / 折叠手动轮椅 (folding manual wheelchair) is on Kunming Airlines' list of aids that may be taken into the cabin, and a manual wheelchair is also checked free alongside a powered chair.

Folding chair may travel in the cabin

Yes

"折叠手动轮椅等小型的在旅途中随时要用到的辅助设备，可带入客舱" — a folding manual wheelchair and other small aids needed during the journey may be brought into the cabin. Cabin stowage is first-come, first-served; where there is no stowage facility or space the aid is checked free of charge.

In-cabin stowage limit

Not published

Kunming Airlines names the folding manual wheelchair as an aid that may go into the cabin but publishes no stowage dimensions for it.

Size limit for a checked manual chair

Not published

No maximum wheelchair size is published.

Weight limit for a manual chair

Not published

Not published — Kunming Airlines sets no weight cap for a wheelchair; mobility aids are carried outside the free baggage allowance.

Returned at the aircraft door

Yes

Aids are handed over and returned close to the cabin door so the passenger can use their own equipment as long as possible; checked aids must be the first items out of the hold and brought to the cabin door as quickly as possible, and staff meet the passenger at the aircraft door on arrival. A passenger who prefers to collect the aid in the baggage hall may ask for that instead.

Aids taken into the cabin are not counted against the carry-on allowance; a portable non-electric wheelchair is expressly excluded from the hand-baggage size and weight limits.

Booking & cost

Advance notice requiredhours before scheduled departure

48h

A checked electric wheelchair, the on-board narrow aisle wheelchair, disabled-group service and a service dog must be requested when booking and no later than 48 hours before scheduled departure; Kunming Airlines answers within 24 hours whether it can provide the service. Boarding/de-boarding assistance (wheelchair, ambulift) also needs 48 hours' notice via 0871-96598.

How to request assistance

Declare the disability when booking and request the service at the latest 48 hours before departure, by calling 0871-96598 or through a Kunming Airlines direct sales office

A passenger who has no companion but would need help to evacuate must book through Kunming Airlines' own sales channels or a specially authorised agent, state the disability and the assistance needed, and can only be ticketed after Kunming Airlines confirms the request. Check in 2 hours before the ordinary check-in deadline; if the 48 h / 2 h deadlines are missed Kunming will still try to help without delaying the flight.

Charge for carrying the aid

No fee

Aids on Kunming's cabin list (folding manual wheelchair, walking frame, crutches, prosthesis, hearing aid, cochlear implant, white cane, low-vision aid, blind glasses) may be taken into the cabin; where there is no cabin space or facility they are checked free of charge. One further aid outside that list is also checked free. One electric wheelchair or scooter plus one manual wheelchair are checked free.

Mobility devices carried free

行李服务细则: only one electric wheelchair or mobility scooter is carried free, and on top of that one manual wheelchair may also be checked free. The disability regulation separately allows one free checked aid outside the cabin-aid list.

行李服务细则 — 电动轮椅或电动代步工具 (Baggage service rules, section on electric wheelchairs and mobility scooters, Simplified Chinese) (opens in a new tab) · read 2026-07-29 残疾人运输保障规定 (Regulations on the carriage of passengers with disabilities, Simplified Chinese, in force 1 April 2018) (opens in a new tab) · read 2026-07-29

If they damage your chair

No liability waiver may be demanded for a mobility aid; loss or damage is settled under the PRC Civil Aviation Law and the applicable international conventions

5.9: a passenger with a disability must not be asked to sign a document waiving the right to claim for damage to or loss of an aid, except for damage already present when the aid was accepted. Mobility aids take priority over other cargo and baggage and must travel on the same aircraft. The published cash scales (¥100/200/300 for light/moderate/severe damage, ¥100 per kg for a bag lost after 21 days) are written for suitcases, not wheelchairs.

On board

On-board aisle chair

Yes

A 机上专用窄型轮椅 (dedicated narrow on-board wheelchair) is provided on request. It must be asked for when booking and at the latest 48 hours before departure, and Kunming Airlines confirms within 24 hours whether it can supply one.

残疾人运输保障规定 (Regulations on the carriage of passengers with disabilities, Simplified Chinese, in force 1 April 2018) (opens in a new tab) · read 2026-07-29

Accessible lavatory

Not published

Not published. Crew will help a passenger to and from the lavatory using the on-board wheelchair, or help a partly ambulant passenger walk there, but no accessible-lavatory equipment is described.

Crew help you transfer

Yes

Cabin crew assist with moving to and from the seat, with meal preparation (opening packaging, identifying and positioning food), with using the on-board wheelchair to and from the lavatory, and with stowing and retrieving cabin items including aids. Crew explicitly do not feed passengers, do not assist inside the lavatory or with toileting, and do not provide medical care.

Seating & movable armrests

Yes

If the passenger cannot get into an aisle seat with a fixed armrest, Kunming Airlines will try to provide an aisle seat with a movable armrest or an easy-access seat; a companion is seated immediately next to the passenger; a passenger with restricted leg movement is offered a front-row seat or an aisle seat with more legroom; a passenger travelling with a service dog is given a first-row seat, never an exit seat.

残疾人运输保障规定 (Regulations on the carriage of passengers with disabilities, Simplified Chinese, in force 1 April 2018) (opens in a new tab) · read 2026-07-29

Worth knowing

Everything above comes from Kunming Airlines' own Chinese-language documents; there is no English version of any of them. Capacity limit: a maximum of 4 passengers per flight who have no companion but would need help to evacuate (this expressly includes wheelchair users, blind passengers and passengers travelling with a service dog); above 4 a 1:1 companion is required, to an absolute maximum of 8. A passenger left in a ground or boarding wheelchair who cannot move independently must not be left unattended for more than 30 minutes. Kunming Airlines does not supply medical oxygen on board. It is part of the Shenzhen Airlines group and its FFP is Air China's PhoenixMiles, but every figure above is from Kunming's own pages. The disability regulation is dated 1 April 2018. The main-menu link 锂电池运输规定 (doc 177) returns an empty document, so the wheelchair watt-hour figures come from the baggage service rules instead.

Sources

Every figure above traces to one of these.

s1 残疾人运输保障规定 (Regulations on the carriage of passengers with disabilities, Simplified Chinese, in force 1 April 2018) (opens in a new tab) · official · read 2026-07-29
s2 残障（疾）旅客出行须知 (Travel notice for passengers with disabilities, Simplified Chinese) (opens in a new tab) · official · read 2026-07-29
s3 行李服务细则 — 电动轮椅或电动代步工具 (Baggage service rules, section on electric wheelchairs and mobility scooters, Simplified Chinese) (opens in a new tab) · official · read 2026-07-29
s4 危险品运输规定 (Regulations on dangerous goods carried in passenger baggage, Simplified Chinese) (opens in a new tab) · official · read 2026-07-29

Record status researched · confidence high · 4 official sources · 1 contact · 81% of the fields this reference tracks are answered. Newest source read 29 July 2026, the day before this page was built. What these mean.

Kunming Airlines

Who to contact

Read it from the source

Powered wheelchairs & batteries

Manual wheelchairs

Booking & cost

On board

Worth knowing

Sources

Record quality