By Ilaria Grasso Macola
Restrictions on liquids aboard flights are set to be scrapped by mid-2024, as newer security scanners are increasingly being rolled out.
The UK Government has urged major airports across Britain to have the more advanced CT scanners installed by the summer of 2024, the Times first reported.
Officials told the outlet that ministers have been reviewing the system and it is understood that an announcement will take place before Christmas.
Despite being put out in 2019 by Boris Johnson, the technology’s rollout was set back as a result of the Covid pandemic.
The 3D system – which forbid passengers from bringing liquids over 100ml aboard flights – is currently being trialled at Heathrow, Gatwick and Birmingham airports.
Heathrow’s chief executive John Holland-Kaye told The Times the west London hub had been testing the technology since 2019.
“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 Department for Transport (DfT),” he said.
“By then the normal passenger experience will be that liquids stay in bags.”
The rules – which will also allow passengers to leave laptops inside their luggage– were initially introduced as a temporary measure in the aftermath of the 2006 transatlantic aircraft plot.
Terrorists conspired to take down several passenger flights from the UK to North America through the use of liquid explosives inside soft drinks.
According to industry experts, the technology will become a game changer, significantly cutting down waiting times at security checks.
It will also reduce the amount of plastic used by travellers.
A DfT spokesperson told City A.M. passengers are still not allowed to carry liquid containers “larger than 100ml through security, and both liquids and electronics should be taken out of cabin bags at airport security checkpoints.”
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