Edinburgh and Birmingham airports increase 100ml liquid limits

BBC

Edinburgh Airport has lifted the 100ml rule for liquids being carried in hand luggage.

It will now be possible to take containers of up to two litres through security and they will not need to be removed from bags.

The change comes after an extra two lanes and eight scanners costing £24m were installed at the international hub.

Edinburgh Airport is the first airport in Scotland to lift the rule. Birmingham Airport also lifted the rule on Monday.

There will be no limit on the number of containers that passengers can carry in their hand luggage, but metal water bottles will need to be emptied beforehand.

Items such as bottles of wine or large water bottles can also be taken on in cabin bags.

Passengers using the airport are also able to keep large electricals, such as iPads, tablets and laptops, in their hand luggage.

Gordon Dewar, chief executive of Edinburgh Airport, said it would allow passengers to move through security more easily than they currently do.

But he said passengers should check security rules at their return destination as other airports may not have moved away from the 100ml limit.

"A whole generation of travellers have only known the 100ml rule to be the case, so it really is a momentous day as we become the first airport in Scotland to lift the rule since it was introduced in 2006," he said.

"The change allows more flexibility for passengers to take liquids through security, all while maintaining and improving our high safety levels through the use of 3D technology."

Passengers at Glasgow and Aberdeen airports can leave liquids and electronics items, such as laptops and tablets, in cabin bags while going through security.

Liquids, which include creams, gels, pastes, sprays and aerosols, can be taken through in containers of up to 100ml in volume without using a plastic bag.

There is no limit on how many 100ml items passengers can bring.

At Inverness and Glasgow Prestwick airports, liquids, laptops and other electronic devices, including hairdryers, cameras and straighteners, must be removed from cabin bags and placed in a tray.

Liquids in a container of 100ml or less should be placed in a sealed 20cm x 20cm, one litre plastic bag.

Each passenger can only take one of these bags.

Aberdeen was the first airport in Scotland to introduce the new Next Generation Security Checkpoints (NGSC) scanners when it installed them in April 2024, according to AGS Airports who own Aberdeen, Glasgow and Southampton airports.

The new scanners, which are also in Glasgow Airport, produce 3D images to provide staff at security with a much clearer view of the contents of bags.

Passengers travelling from airports with these new scanners do not need to remove large electrical items or liquids under 100ml from their cabin bags.

In 2022 the UK government announced state-of-the-art scanning equipment was required to be installed in security lanes by June 2024.

Smiths Detection

Some smaller airports, which had fewer lanes to update, met the deadline and dropped the 100ml liquids rule last summer.

But in mid-June 2024, the Department for Transport suddenly announced 100ml liquids limits must be re-introduced where they had been dropped "to enable further improvements to be made to the new checkpoint systems".

Larger airports such as Heathrow, Gatwick and Manchester, had not met the previous deadline.

Problems cited by airports included supply chain issues and the need for major construction to be carried out in order to have the scanners installed.

The X-ray machines, similar to CT scanners used in hospitals, are very heavy and in some instances floors will need to be reinforced.

CT X-ray technology is already being used in some countries including the US, although ministers claim the UK is the first in the world to attempt such a wide-scale rollout.

Similar to the UK, some EU airports, for example in Rome and Amsterdam, had installed the new scanners and eased the rules last summer.

But the EU also reinstated the 100ml limit in September 2024 to address a technical issue.

Reports had suggested the scanners were not accurate for some liquid containers being carried in bags.

Under current EU rules, liquids in a container of 100ml or less should be placed in a sealed 20cm x 20cm, one litre plastic bag.

In airports with new scanners, passengers can leave liquids and electronics in hand baggage while going through security.

Passengers should check security rules at their departure and arrival airports before travelling.