A woman has suffered burns to her face after her battery-powered headphones caught fire on a long-haul flight.

The incident, which happened a plane travelling from Beijing to Melbourne, prompted warnings about the dangers of battery-operated devices.

The woman, who has not been identified, said she heard a loud explosion about two hours into the flight from China to Australia.

“As I went to turn around I felt burning on my face,” she told the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB). “I just grabbed my face which caused the headphones to go around my neck.