Singapore Airlines, Air Berlin, Lufthansa bans Note 7 on flights

German carrier Air Berlin on Saturday said it had banned Samsung's Galaxy Note 7 mobile phones from flights, while rival Lufthansa said it had banned the phones on services to and from the United States and expected that soon the ban would apply to all other Lufthansa business.

Earlier on Saturday, Singapore Airlines said it had banned Note 7 mobile phones from all its flights and any passenger carrying one would not be allowed to board its planes.

The US Department of Transportation has issued an emergency order banning the devices from aircraft in the United States as of Saturday.

The bans come in response to numerous reports of the devices catching fire.

A note on Air Berlin's customer website said that carrying the mobile phones was not allowed on its flights with immediate effect.

A Lufthansa spokesperson, in reply to a question, said the airline was banning the Samsung Galaxy Note 7 on all US-related flights for the time being with the wider ban expected soon.

Singapore Airlines said on its Facebook page that "the Galaxy Note 7 smartphone will be prohibited from being brought on board all our flights in person, in carry-on baggage or checked-in baggage with effect from 16 October."

Samsung has recalled its flagship Galaxy Note 7 smartphones worldwide because of the incidents.