Is the airport X-ray safe for your phone and its eSIM?
Yes. Airport security information states that X-ray machines do not damage computers, disks or similar equipment, and the eSIM is a chip inside the phone, so it goes through the machine with everything else. What you actually have to manage at the checkpoint is what goes in the tray: EU rules require laptops and other large electrical items to be screened separately unless the airport has newer scanners.
See eSIM pricesWhat airports say about X-rays and electronics
The clearest statements come from the airports that run the checkpoints. Parma Airport, in Italy, puts it in one sentence on its security page: X-ray machines will not cause any kind of damage to photosensitive films, magnetic disks, personal computers or other equipment. The same page asks passengers to put mobile phones, keys and coins in the basket before walking through the metal detector, which means the phone is meant to go through the X-ray machine, not around it.
None of the official rules we checked asks passengers to keep phones away from the baggage scanner or to switch them off for it. The EU screening rules, which every airport in the Union applies, treat a phone as something to be screened like the rest of your hand luggage. The phone goes into the tray and through the X-ray machine with your keys, your wallet and your jacket, every time you fly.
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Will it work on my phone?
On iPhone: Settings → General → About, and scroll to EID. If there is an EID, your phone takes eSIMs. Every iPhone from the XS (2018) onwards does.
On Android: Settings → About phone → Status, and look for EID. If there is an EID, your phone takes eSIMs. Most Galaxy S20, Pixel 3 and later do.
It also has to be carrier-unlocked. If you bought it outright or your contract is over, it almost certainly is.
Not sure about your model? Ask us before you pay and we will tell you — a person answers within 24 hours.
How it works
- 1Choose and payCard, Apple Pay or Google Pay. No account.
- 2Install it at homeThe QR arrives by email. Scan it on wifi in a minute.
- 3Connect when you landTurn on data roaming for the eSIM and you are online.
And the eSIM inside it?
An eSIM is not a separate card. It is a chip built into the phone, and the profile your travel plan uses is stored on that chip. When the phone goes through the scanner, the eSIM goes with it, exactly like the processor, the memory and the battery. There is no official guidance that treats it any differently from the rest of the phone, and no reason to remove or disable the line before security.
What can make an eSIM disappear are actions on the phone itself: deleting the line in Settings, or a reset that erases it. Our guides on deleting an eSIM and on factory resets explain both. The QR code you used to install it plays no part at the checkpoint either: nobody needs to see it, and it should stay private, as our QR guide explains.
The EU rule: large electrical items in their own tray
The EU's aviation security rules contain a short requirement on this. Before screening, portable computers and other large electrical items are removed from cabin baggage and screened separately, unless the bag is screened with explosive detection equipment that meets the standard the rules set for it. That exception is why the experience varies from one airport, and even one lane, to another.
A phone is not a large electrical item, so the EU text does not single it out. In practice it still ends up in a tray, because checkpoints ask you to empty your pockets before the walk-through detector or the body scanner. A tablet or a laptop is the item most likely to be asked for separately on a standard lane. When in doubt, the instruction that counts is the one the security staff give you at that checkpoint.
At Spanish airports: what Aena asks
Aena, which runs the main airports in Spain, gives three instructions on its security control page. Everything you have in your pockets goes in the trays. Jackets, hats and footwear with a high or wedge heel go in too. And you take electronic items and permitted liquids out of your case and present them separately.
That last step is changing at some checkpoints. Aena has contracted explosive detection equipment for cabin baggage, known as EDSCB, for its main airports, and describes it as allowing hand luggage to be inspected without taking electronic devices or liquids out of the bag. Where those lanes are in use, the staff will tell you to leave everything inside. Where they are not, the usual routine applies. Packing the laptop, tablet and liquids bag where you can reach them in a few seconds works for both.
The body scanner and the phone in your pocket
The scanner you walk through is a different machine from the one that screens your bag. The European Commission says only security scanners that do not use ionising radiation can be used for screening passengers in the EU. Their use is optional for each country or airport, and passengers must be given the possibility of opting out, in which case they are screened by another method that includes at least a hand search.
Your phone does not go through the body scanner with you: it goes in the tray, through the baggage X-ray, and comes back out on the belt. A phone left in a pocket can mean a second pass through the arch or a hand search, so take it out together with keys and coins before you queue at the scanner.
What actually goes wrong at the checkpoint
The real risk to a phone at security is not radiation but distance. For a minute or two, the phone sits in a tray on a belt while you are on the other side of a scanner, sometimes held back for a check. Put it in the tray last, with the screen locked, and pick it up first. Before you walk away, count your things: phone, wallet, passport, laptop. If it does go missing, our guide on a lost or stolen phone abroad gives the order of steps.
Spare batteries have their own rules: power banks travel in the cabin only, as our guide on power banks on flights explains. And because a Snoozim eSIM stays on the phone where it was installed, the phone is the one item that carries your data plan; it does not stop working because of the scanner, but it does go wherever the phone goes.
Can the X-ray at security erase photos or data on my phone?
Airport security information states that X-ray machines do not damage computers, disks or similar equipment. Phones go through the same machines as a matter of routine.
Will my travel eSIM still work after going through the scanner?
Yes. The eSIM is a chip inside the phone and goes through with it. If there is no data after landing, the cause is the settings, such as data roaming or the line chosen for mobile data.
Do I have to take my phone out of my bag at security?
The EU rule names laptops and other large electrical items. Aena asks you to empty your pockets into the trays and present electronic items separately, and newer lanes let them stay in the bag; follow the staff at each checkpoint.
Can I refuse the body scanner?
In the EU, yes. The European Commission says passengers must be able to opt out, and are then screened by another method that includes at least a hand search.
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