Virgin Atlantic Airways Ltd. has relaxed the total ban on battery-powered Dell and Apple laptop computers that it implemented on its international flights a week ago, while Lenovo Group Ltd. says it is investigating a laptop fire that occurred in one of its models earlier this month.

Travellers on Virgin Atlantic's international flights "wishing to use an Apple or Dell laptop on board can only do so once the laptop battery serial number has been checked by a member of the cabin crew," the British airline said Monday in an advisory on its website.

"If the battery is permitted for use, the laptop may be used as normal on board, with no further restrictions," the notice said.

Owners of laptops whose batteries do not pass inspection are still subject to rules brought in last Tuesday that require the power cells to be removed if they are among those identified by Dell and Apple as being potential risks to overheat and catch fire.

The website also said that on flights where no in-seat power is provided, "the use of these affected laptops is prohibited."

Virgin was the third airline to ban the use of the Apple and Dell computers on battery power. Qantas and Korean Air both issued bans on the laptops in August.

Lenovo probes laptop fire

Also on Monday, the world's No. 3 maker of personal computers said it was investigating a Sept. 16 fire incident involving one of its laptop computers.

Lenovo confirmed that one of its ThinkPad T43 laptops overheated and began sparking and smoking in Los Angeles International Airport. No one was injured.

The company said that although that laptop model can ship with a Sony-made battery of the type cited in the Dell and Apple recalls, it was not clear that the battery involved in the fire was made by Sony.

The batteries used in the ThinkPad T43 have a different design than those used by Dell and Apple, and Sony is one of three battery suppliers Lenovo uses, Computer Reseller News quoted a Lenovo spokesman as saying.

Batteries made by Sony

The lithium-ion laptop batteries in question were made by Sony. Dell recalled 4.1 million laptop batteries last month, a move followed days later by Apple's recall of 1.8 million of the power cells.

Apple says it has received nine reports of batteries overheating, including reports of two customers who suffered minor burns from overheated computers.

The company has also received reports of minor property damage. No serious injuries have been reported.

The batteries in Dell notebooks are in machines shipped between April 1, 2004, and July 18 of this year.

The company said in a statement that the recall would affect approximately 95,000 battery packs sold to customers in Canada.

"In rare cases, a short-circuit could cause the battery to overheat, causing a risk of smoke and [or] fire," said Ira Williams, a Dell spokesman, when the recall was announced Aug. 24.

Battery packs contain cells of rolled up metal strips. Sony said that during production, crimping the rolls left tiny shards of metal loose in the cells, and some of those shards can cause batteries to short-circuit.

Batteries powering Sony's Vaio laptops don't have the same problems, according to the Tokyo-based manufacturer.

The recalls are the two biggest in computer and electronics manufacturing history, said the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission.