Summer travel warning as government U-turn on airport rule

UK holidaymakers are being warned of a change to airport luggage rules just weeks before summer. The government has made a sudden reversal on the rules concerning the quantity of liquids passengers can carry in their hand luggage when departing from UK airports.

The new rule states that all passengers leaving the UK can now only carry 100ml in liquids, pastes and gels in their hand luggage until further notice. This announcement follows the approval given to some airports to allow passengers to carry up to two litres of liquids in their hand luggage, after the installation of new CT scanners.

Bristol Airport was one of the UK’s international airports announced it was introducing the state of the art security scanners, which would allow passengers to carry more than 100ml of liquids.

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But in a sudden U-turn from the government, passengers will need to ensure their hand luggage liquids are in a single clear plastic bag, and that they remove the bag from their hand luggage before it goes through the security scanner. Liquids over 100ml will need to be put into hold luggage.

The Department for Transport (DfT) stated that only passengers travelling from London City, Newcastle, Leeds Bradford, Aberdeen, Southend and Teesside airports would be affected – as these are the only airports which had introduced the scanners in time for the previous June 1 introduction.

However, the confusion over the applicable rules has resulted in numerous airports facing security delays since the start of June. Passengers at Birmingham Airport have been forced to queue for up to two-and-a-half hours to get through departures, with many having to stand outside in the rain. The airport has attributed these delays to the installation of scanners and passengers arriving too early.

A spokesperson for the Department for Transport (DfT) stated: “From 00.01 on Sunday 9 June 2024, 100ml restrictions on liquids will temporarily be reintroduced for passengers travelling from six regional airports where Next Generation Security Checkpoints (NGSC) are in full operation.

“This temporary move is to enable further improvements to be made to the new checkpoint systems and will only affect a small number of passengers. For most passengers, security measures will remain unchanged.”

This unexpected reversal comes after multiple airports experienced severe delays at security due to a higher amount of liquids being rejected than anticipated. Over the weekend, Nick Barton, CEO of Birmingham Airport, said: “The rules that we have been adhering to since March are now very clear in that only liquids, pastes and gels up to 100ml can be carried through in hand luggage.

“Since opening our new security area, and despite being one of the first UK airports to comply, we have been limited on the use of our multi-million-pound equipment due to an outstanding regulatory restriction meaning we had to limit liquids to 100ml. This rule has now been implemented nationwide.

“Despite the 100ml rule still being in place, we continually have non-compliant bags with liquids over the allowance which has led to inefficiencies of our equipment and resulted in extended queuing time for customers.

“It is now imperative that all customers comply with the nationwide rule to ensure a smoother and simpler transition through the airport. A non-compliant bag with liquids over 100ml can add up to 20 minutes to each passenger’s journey through security.

“All travelling customers should check their hand luggage to ensure it complies with this restriction.”

Birmingham Airport, having met the Government’s June 1 deadline, was initially restricted from fully utilising its state-of-the-art security equipment due to a lingering regulatory limitation that mandated adherence to the 100ml liquid rule. Now, following the implementation of this rule across all UK airports, even those that had previously received regulatory approval must enforce the longstanding liquids regulation that has been in effect since 2006.

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