Threats to safety: Simon Li displays some of the 2,000 dangerous goods found in air passengers carry-on luggage at the Hong Kong International Airport everyday, including a lighter and fire extinguisher.

Leave dangerous goods behind or pack them in your check-in luggage, the Civil Aviation Department reminds air passengers in the run-up to the Lunar New Year.

The Department expects a record high of 737 flight movements on January 31, the day before the Lunar New Year begins. 

There are 1,024 slot applications for operating extra flights from January 25 to February 10, an 18% increase over last year.

It is import to remind air travellers about the items that are restricted on board aircraft because they pose a threat to aviation safety and security, said Simon Li, the Department's Chief Safety Officer.

In 2002, officers found an average of 2,000 dangerous goods and restricted articles on air passengers every day at the airport.

The most commonly found dangerous goods were lighters, perfume or toiletry items, aerosols or gas cylinders for medical or sporting uses, signal flares, gas torches, and household items such as adhesives, polishes, bleach and drain cleaner.

These items can become dangerous in flight due to sudden temperature and pressure fluctuations and vibrations.

Passengers are free to carry bladed instruments such as knifes, scissors and nail files inside their checked-in baggage. 

Nail clippers without nail files that are less than 6 centimetres long, round-ended nail files, and round-ended scissors with a blade less than 5 centimeters long, however, are permitted.

The department has set up two booths at Hong Kong and Kowloon Airport Express Stations that display the forbidden items. Similar booths were installed in the airport last year.