The Government has announced a last-minute U-turn on rules regarding the amount of liquids passengers can carry in their hand luggage when departing through UK airports.
The new directive means all passengers leaving the UK can now only carry 100ml in liquids, pastes and gels in their hand luggage until further notice. The announcement comes after some airports were given the greenlight to allow passengers to carry up to two litres of liquids in their hand luggage, following the installation of new CT scanners.
As before, passengers will need to ensure their hand luggage liquids are in a single clear plastic bag, and that they are that the bag is taken out of their hand luggage prior to being put through the security scanner. Liquids over 100ml will need to be put into hold luggage.
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The Department for Transport (DfT) said that only passengers travelling from London City, Newcastle, Leeds Bradford, Aberdeen, Southend and Teesside airports would be affected - as these are the only airports which had introduced the scanners in time for the previous June 1 introduction.
However, confusion over what rules apply has led to multiple airports experiencing security delays since the beginning of June. Passengers at Birmingham Airport have had to queue for up to two-and-a-half hours to get through departures, with many having to stand outside in the rain. The airport has said the delays are due to the installation of scanners and passengers arriving too early.
A DfT spokesperson said: "From 00.01 on Sunday 9 June 2024, 100ml restrictions on liquids will temporarily be reintroduced for passengers travelling from six regional airports where Next Generation Security Checkpoints (NGSC) are in full operation.
"This temporary move is to enable further improvements to be made to the new checkpoint systems and will only affect a small number of passengers. For most passengers, security measures will remain unchanged."
The surprise turnaround follows multiple airports experiencing severe delays at security as a higher amount of liquids are being rejected than expected. Over the weekend Nick Barton, CEO of Birmingham Airport said: “The rules that we have been adhering to since March are now very clear in that only liquids, pastes and gels up to 100ml can be carried through in hand luggage.
“Since opening our new security area, and despite being one of the first UK airports to comply, we have been limited on the use of our multi-million-pound equipment due to an outstanding regulatory restriction meaning we had to limit liquids to 100ml. This rule has now been implemented nationwide.
“Despite the 100ml rule still being in place, we continually have non-compliant bags with liquids over the allowance which has led to inefficiencies of our equipment and resulted in extended queuing time for customers.
“It is now imperative that all customers comply with the nationwide rule to ensure a smoother and simpler transition through the airport. A non-compliant bag with liquids over 100ml can add up to 20 minutes to each passenger's journey through security.
“All travelling customers should check their hand luggage to ensure it complies with this restriction.”
Birmingham Airport is one of the few UK airports that met the Government deadline of June 1. However, due to this regulatory restriction being placed on it previously, it has been unable to use its equipment to its full capability.
Now all airports, even if they had gained regulatory approval, now have to enforce the previous liquids rule that has been in place since 2006.
Current advice to travellers:
- Only liquids, pastes and gels up to 100ml can be carried in hand luggage – anything larger needs to be in checked in luggage
- No liquids above this size.
- Anything above the 100ml will be removed and destroyed.
- When going through security please ensure all items are out of pockets including phones, keys, coins and tissues etc., remove all belts. Watches can be left on.
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