Another major airport will scrap the 100ml liquid rule in time for the summer school holidays, but others will miss the June 2024 deadline.
UK airports are preparing to introduce new baggage scanners that will allow passengers to no longer have to remove liquids and electronic items from their bags.
Current rules state that liquids can only be transported in containers of up to 100 ml and came into force in 2006 following a terrorist threat.
Bristol Airport has announced plans to scrap the rules and its new scanners will be rolled out on June 14, just in time for the school summer holidays.
This means that strict restrictions on around 100ml of liquid will be lifted, allowing travelers to take more with them when traveling both abroad and domestically.
West Country Airport has spent £11.5m on the new devices, with all British airlines targeting this summer.
Bristol Airport has announced plans to scrap the rules and its new scanners will be rolled out on June 14, just in time for the school summer holidays.
The new technology is expected to shorten the queues seen at airports. Pictured: Bristol Airport during the peak Easter getaway season
Graeme Gamble, chief operating officer at Bristol Airport, told Bristol Live: “We are delighted that all customers traveling from Bristol Airport will benefit from the latest technology being introduced at security.
‘The new equipment will reduce stress and inconvenience for customers as there will no longer be a need to put 100ml liquids into clear plastic bags and remove them from carry-on luggage.
“The new process offers a much more customer-friendly security operation using the latest technology and providing enhanced screening, allowing customers to store personal items in their carry-on luggage.”
It follows Birmingham, which earlier this week became the first major airport to scrap the 100ml liquid in hand luggage rule in time for the half-term weekend.
The new technology will reduce waiting times by allowing passengers to leave laptops and liquids in their carry-on luggage.
Birmingham Airport will become the first major UK airport to roll out the new scanners which will eliminate the need for the 100ml liquid rule.
Some smaller airports (London City in Docklands and Teesside Airport in Darlington) have already installed the new technology, but the vast majority have not yet done so.
This means holidaymakers across the country will continue to face long waits at most major airports this summer, with London Heathrow, Gatwick and Manchester unlikely to be ready to roll out the new scanners. It is understood they now have until June 2025.
Gatwick has said it hopes to have all the remaining scanners installed in the first three months of next year, a similar timeframe to Stansted and Manchester.
Luton and Bristol airports aim to follow Birmingham in introducing scanners by June, and Bristol has invested more than £10m in security equipment.
Several airports already have the technology installed in some security lanes, but have not yet implemented it across the board.
Under new plans, all UK airports will be equipped with 3D scanning technology that can produce more detailed images, meaning passengers will be able to go through airport security with containers holding two liters of liquid in their luggage. hand.
The new technology will work by allowing staff to rotate, tilt and zoom each 3D image, allowing them to better inspect the contents without passengers having to remove them from their suitcases.
The Department of Transportation previously set a deadline of June 2024 for all airports to introduce the new CT scanners; However, almost none of the major travel hubs are likely to meet this date.
In 2006, police foiled a terrorist plot to bring down at least seven transatlantic flights with liquid explosives disguised as 500ml drinks bottles.
In the Al-Qaeda bomb plot, terrorists attempted to carry homemade mixtures of chemicals concealed as regular beverage bottles on several United States- and Canada-bound flights departing from London.
An immediate ban on all liquids, except baby milk, in hand luggage was put into effect in both the UK and US, but this was relaxed in November 2006 to the liquid limit of 100 ml.
Speaking about the innovative technology, Nick Barton, chief executive of Birmingham Airport, told the Times: ‘The existing scanner is like a large domestic washing machine.
“The new machines are the size of a Ford Transit.”
