British Airports Plan to Drop Liquids Rule

Traveling through security at most UK airports will be a lot more convenient by June 2024, the British government has promised. As at airports in the US and many other countries, British airports currently require travelers to carry liquids and items like toothpaste in containers no bigger than 100 milliliters—3.4 ounces—which must be placed in a clear plastic bag at security. But with new high-tech 3D scanners, travelers will be allowed to have liquids in containers holding up to 2 liters, around 68 ounces, in their carry-on baggage, the BBC reports. Travelers won't have to remove the liquids from their baggage at security checkpoints, and they will no longer have to remove laptops and other items.

"The tiny toiletry has become a staple of airport security checkpoints, but that’s all set to change," said Mark Harper, the UK's transportation secretary, per the Guardian. "I'm streamlining cabin bag rules at airports while enhancing security." The government set a deadline of June 2024 for airports to install the CT scanners. London City Airport plans to have fully replaced its old scanners by April next year. The airport said last month that a one-lane trial with the new scanners this year had been extremely successful.

The new scanners are already in use at airports in European cities including Milan, Amsterdam, and Shannon, Ireland. American airports including Chicago's O'Hare also have the scanners, but the Transportation Security Administration says reports that it plans to lift its liquids rule by June 2024 are "absolutely not true," WGRZ reports. The rule was brought in at airports in the US, UK, and elsewhere in November 2006, replacing a total ban on liquids put in place three months earlier, when British authorities said they had foiled a plot to blow up planes with explosives hidden in drink containers, reports the BBC. (The European Union is ditching "airplane mode" rules for electronic devices on planes next year.)