When will the 100ml liquids rule be banished from UK airports?

The Government has ordered all UK airports to roll-out a new generation of high-tech 3D security scanners, meaning passengers boarding flights from UK airports will soon no longer have to adhere to strict 100ml hand luggage liquid limits,

Airports across the UK were originally given a deadline of 2022 to roll out the tech, but this was later pushed back to June 2024. Some smaller airports have already introduced the new scanners, but a number of the UK’s bigger airports have now been given an extension to 2025 as they struggled to hit the deadline.

Here’s everything you need to know about the 100ml liquid rule changes, what it means for your next holiday, which airports have already rolled out the new technology, and which won’t have the scanners in place until 2025.

Which airports will have the new scanners in place by June 2024?

In early 2023, London City Airport and Teesside International Airport became the first British airports to roll out the cutting-edge scanners, enabling passengers to board flights without removing liquid miniatures from their bags. Newcastle Airport has also introduced the new technology, and Luton and Bristol say they are both on track to hit the June 2024 deadline. It is understood that Birmingham, Inverness, Liverpool, Exeter, Southend, Leeds Bradford and Edinburgh will all hit the deadline.

It is worth noting that some airports may not necessarily change their baggage rules as a result of having installed the new scanners. A spokesperson for Bristol Airport said: “Customers should be reminded there are no immediate changes to the rules governing what can be taken through security as a result of this initiative, and the current hand luggage restrictions remain in place.” However, Teesside and London City have both scrapped the 100ml rule after having installed the new scanners.

Which airports will miss the June 2024 deadline?

It is understood that the country’s three biggest airports will not complete the rollout of the new scanners until 2025. Heathrow has already installed new lanes in Terminals 2, 3 and 5, but a spokesperson said: “Installing the new lanes across the whole airport was always going to be complex”, due to having more security lanes than any other airport in the country.

Gatwick has made progress installing the new security scanners, but says quarter one of 2025 is a revised deadline for completing the “major logistical operation required to install the remaining scanners”.

Manchester Airport, which forms part of the same airport group as East Midlands and London Stansted, says the security scanners will be “in place on a large number of our security lanes by June 2024, with the full completion of the programme expected the following year.”

AGS Airports, which owns and operates Aberdeen, Glasgow and Southampton airports, said: “We welcome this decision [for the deadline extension] and will continue to work with the DfT on the roll-out of Next Generation Security Checkpoint (NGSC) scanners.” So it is not currently known whether these airports will hit the June 2024 deadline or not.

Installing the new scanners is a significant logistical undertaking for the UK’s bigger airports. One industry insider described the new machines as being “the size of a Ford Transit”, meaning airports have had to reinforce their floors. Aviation expert Sally Gethin told The Telegraph: “There are only two suppliers so there’s not much choice for airports and bottlenecks in the supply chain are emerging.”

Which airports overseas have the technology in place?

Amsterdam Schiphol, Helsinki, Frankfurt, Rome Fiumicino, Milan (both Linate and Malpensa), Cork and Shannon are among the European airports to have rolled out the new technology. However, not all have scrapped their 100ml liquids limit; Amsterdam, for example, still recommends that liquids should be divided into 100ml containers or else could be confiscated.

Dublin, Madrid Barajas, Palma de Mallorca and Barcelona El-Prat plan to follow later in the year, and Paris-Orly and Geneva have been trialling the tech in recent months. A number of other airports, like Munich and Malaga, have 2025 or 2026 as scheduled completion dates. Further afield, many airports in the USA, the Middle East and the Far East have had the tech in place for years.

What do these delays mean for my holiday?

Rory Boland, travel editor at Which?, has warned that the staggered introduction of the new scanners could lead to confusion at the UK’s airports this summer. “We’re now going to go into a situation where different [UK] airports have different rules, so at some places you will need to get the liquids out in advance, at others you won’t,” he told the BBC.

“You only need a couple of passengers to not be prepared to end up having to wait an extra 10, 20, 30 minutes. It is disappointing that we’re in a situation just months ahead of the peak travel period... and major airports aren’t ready.”

Given the ambiguity, ABTA has warned holidaymakers and business travellers to prepare for trips by following existing rules for hand luggage and airport security. A spokesperson said: “Our best advice is to prepare for your travels with the existing rules in mind. That way, you’ll be ready to comply whatever the scenario, avoiding any unnecessary delays through security and any difficulties when returning from your destination.”

Why does the 100ml liquid limit exist?

The in-flight liquid limit was introduced in 2006 after British police foiled an Islamist terror plot to detonate explosives on transatlantic flights. They planned to smuggle liquid explosives disguised as soft drinks in their hand luggage, in what would have been the deadliest terror attack since 9/11. After the foiled plot, the Government raised the terror threat from “severe” to “critical” and as a precautionary measure banned hand luggage on all planes.

The hand luggage allowance was soon relaxed, but the liquid ban remained – not just in Britain but in countries around the world. To this day, you cannot get through UK airport security checks with any liquids over 100ml in volume, and any that do meet regulations must be sealed in a transparent resealable bag. But that is all changing.

This story was first published in March 2023 and has been revised and updated.