Another major airport will abolish the 100ml liquid rule in time for the summer holidays, but others will miss the June 2024 deadline.
Airports in Britain are preparing to introduce new baggage scanners, meaning passengers will no longer have to remove liquids and electronic items from their luggage.
The current rules state that liquids can only be transported in containers of up to 100ml, and were introduced in 2006 in the wake of a terror threat.
Bristol Airport has announced plans to scrap the rules. The new scanners will be rolled out on June 14, just in time for the summer holidays.
This means that the strict restrictions around 100ml of liquids will be removed, allowing travelers to take more with them when traveling both abroad and domestically.
The West Country airport has spent £11.5 million on the new devices, with every UK airline giving a deadline of this summer.
Graeme Gamble, Chief Operating Officer of Bristol Airport, told Bristol Live: ‘We are pleased that all customers traveling from Bristol Airport will benefit from the introduction of state-of-the-art technology to security.
‘The new equipment will reduce customer stress and inconvenience as it will no longer be necessary to place 100ml liquids into clear plastic bags and remove them from hand luggage.
‘The new process delivers a much more customer-friendly security operation, using the latest technology and enhanced screening, allowing customers to keep personal items in their carry-on luggage.’
It follows Birmingham, which earlier this week became the first major airport to scrap the 100ml liquid carry-on rule in time for the half-weekend.
Some smaller airports – London City, in the Docklands, and Teesside Airport in Darlington – have already installed the new technology, but the vast majority have yet to do so.
This means holidaymakers across the country will still 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. Obviously they now have until June 2025.
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Gatwick has said it hopes to have all remaining scanners installed in the first three months of next year, a timeframe similar to that of Stansted and Manchester.
Luton and Bristol airports aim to follow Birmingham in introducing the scanners by June, with Bristol investing more than £10 million in security equipment.
The technology has already been installed in some security lanes at various airports, but it has not yet been implemented everywhere.
Under new plans, all UK airports will be equipped with 3D scanner technology that can produce more detailed images, meaning passengers will be able to pass through airport security with containers containing up to two liters of liquid in their hand luggage.
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.
Previously, the Ministry of Transport had set a deadline of June 2024 for all airports to introduce the new CT scanners, but it is likely that almost none of the major travel hubs will meet this date.
In 2006, police foiled a terrorist plot to shoot down at least seven transatlantic flights with liquid explosives disguised as 500ml liquor bottles.
In the al-Qaeda bombing, terrorists tried to carry home-made mixtures of chemicals, concealed as ordinary drinks bottles, on a number of flights to the US and Canada from London.
An immediate ban on all liquids, except baby formula, in hand luggage came into effect in both Britain and the US, but this was relaxed to the 100ml liquid limit in November 2006.
Speaking about the innovative technology, Nick Barton, chief executive of Birmingham Airport, told The Times: ‘The existing scanner is like a large household washing machine.
‘The new machines are the size of a Ford Transit.’