The dropping of the requirement to put liquids in plastic bags wil help to alleviate queues at Heathrow and other airports.
(Picture: PA Wire)Airports in the UK are planning to ditch the ban on liquids over 100ml by 2024, according to a report.
Passengers travelling through UK airports will be able to carry drinks, make up and liquids of any size in their hand luggage, according to the Times.
New technology means passengers will be able to keep everything in their bags instead of being asked to remove laptops and ditch liquids over 100ml at screening for the first time in 16 years.
Luggage is to pass through special CT scanners which allows airport security to inspect bags from a 3D image. The improvement in the technology will allow the relaxation of the rules.
There were massive queues over the summer due to bag and border control checks whioch could be alleviated under the plans to drop the liquid rule.
Trials of the new technology are underway at Heathrow and are expected to be be up and running at the UK’s biggest airports by mid 2024.
John Holland-Kay, boss of Heathrow airport, told The Times: “We have just started the expansion of the security area in Terminal 3 which will have more CT scanners and have a deadline of mid-2024 from the DFT. By then the normal passenger experience will be that liquids stay in bags”.
The new scanners also mean that travellers will no longer need to place liquids into a clear, plastic bag.
However, until the changes come into play, anyone catching a flight from the UK will have to comply with current rules on liquids.
Restrictions on the size of liquids were put into place in 2006 after terror attack using liquid explosives was thwarted at Heathrow.
Trials of the technology began at the UKs largest airport in 2019 and are also taking place at Gatwick and Birmingham.
Luggage restrictions will remain in place, including a ban on sharp objects and cigarette lighters.
