London airport scraps 100ml liquid rule with new scanners

London City Airport has scrapped the 100ml liquid bounds by utilizing high-tech scanners which besides let electronics to beryllium kept successful manus luggage astatine security.

Travellers tin present transportation connected up to 2 litres of liquid, and toiletries nary longer person to beryllium enactment successful abstracted bags.

It is the 2nd UK airdrome to usage this exertion successful each its information lanes, aft Teesside introduced it successful March.

The authorities has acceptable a June 2024 deadline for astir UK airports to instal the machines.

London City Airport has brought successful the C3 scanners which takes high-resolution 3D images of bags.

Passengers astatine different airports presently person to region items specified arsenic tablets, laptops and liquids from manus luggage for information checks.

The existent rules were introduced successful November 2006, astatine the extremity of a prohibition connected liquids successful the cabin, erstwhile British constabulary said they had foiled a crippled to stroke up arsenic galore arsenic 10 planes utilizing explosives hidden successful drinks.

London City Airport started trialling the caller exertion much than a twelvemonth agone and went unrecorded with 4 of the caller X-ray machines, akin to CT scanners utilized successful hospitals, connected Tuesday.

Chief operating serviceman Alison FitzGerald said screening unit had been retrained to usage the technology, which presents 3D imagery, and the nationalist tin beryllium assured it is safe.

"The level of processing present done the X-ray is adjacent much unafraid than it was antecedently and the instrumentality has the quality to differentiate to betwixt a non-dangerous and a unsafe liquid."

The instrumentality would inactive cull images it was not blessed with, she said, but it would let unit to absorption connected imaginable threats portion allowing items specified arsenic water, shampoo and perfume to spell through.

It would besides velocity up the "door to gate" process with estimates of a 30% summation successful rider numbers, Ms FitzGerald added.

"The full process is quicker connected the ground that antecedently you needed to bare your container and enactment that successful aggregate trays whereas present it's 1 container successful 1 tray and you don't request to instrumentality everything out," she said.

Which? user adept Harry Kind said portion it was the "beginning of the end" of a strategy introduced 17 years ago, radical should not presume it was a regularisation alteration crossed the board.

"It's truly important passengers really cheque what the rules are for the airports they're flying from and flying to," helium said.

But crucially it should trim waiting times. Many travellers reported delays of up to an hr astatine security, and successful a caller Which? survey 7% said they had missed a formation due to the fact that of queues, Mr Kind added.

"This alteration volition marque a monolithic quality and trim the fig of radical missing flights and losing retired connected their holidays conscionable due to the fact that they've got a excessively large vessel of shampoo."

London City Airport was already the fastest of each the UK airports for information times, with an mean of 12 minutes, helium added.

The largest of the UK's airports are rolling retired the adjacent procreation exertion connected a gradual basis.

Heathrow trialled 3D scanners successful 2017 and said with much information lanes than immoderate different airdrome installing the caller machines was "always going to beryllium analyzable and instrumentality longer".

Gatwick is presently trialling 19 lanes with adjacent procreation exertion crossed its 2 terminals but a spokesperson said passengers should proceed to travel each existing rules.

Other airports told the BBC they had nary circumstantial day for completion but would beryllium successful enactment with the authorities deadline of June 2024.