Next year, a number of rules related to the transportation of liquids and electrical equipment in hand luggage could be abolished in British airports, writes the BBC.
The British government has determined that by June 2024, most of the country’s airports must install the latest generation 3D scanners, which will be able to show the contents of luggage in more detail. The changes will allow to increase the amount of liquid carried in hand luggage from 100 milliliters to two liters, and travelers won’t have to remove electrical equipment from their bags.
Currently, passengers must remove things like tablets, laptops and liquids from their bags when going through airport security. In addition, liquids such as sunscreens, toothpastes or shampoos must be filled in 100 ml containers and placed in a clear plastic bag. These rules are valid since November 2006.
The government has indicated that the requirement to install scanners at airports, similar to the computer tomography equipment used in hospitals, will allow to gradually abandon the requirement to remove electrical equipment from hand luggage, and will also allow to increase the amount of transported liquid.
The new rules will come into effect over the next two years, but the current conditions will still remain in place at airports using older technology.
The latest generation of 3D scanners have been in use for several years at some US airports, such as Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson Airport and Chicago’s O’Hare Airport. The former Prime Minister of Great Britain, Boris Johnson, once promised that the latest technologies would facilitate passenger travel already at the end of 2022, however, the pandemic introduced its own adjustments.