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It’s good news for passengers flying out of Bournemouth Airport, as new rules for hand luggage have been introduced with immediate effect that might make going through security a little quicker.
Though liquids in cabin bags are still constrained to the limit of 100ml, passengers will no longer need to present liquids in small plastic bags.
Instead liquids can be kept inside their carry on bags while going through scanners. The same goes for electrical devices such as laptops and speakers.
This means that, in theory at least, security queues will move faster, with less time spent fiddling around taking things out of your bag, and figuring out what goes in the tray.
This is all thanks to the successful implementation of new CT scanners, which analyse the molecular structure of the contents of a passenger’s bag to detect threats.
A statement from Bournemouth Airport shared on social media said: ‘Bournemouth Airport has completed the process of installing and testing new security screening equipment to improve passenger security.
It added: ‘As many airports have not yet introduced this new technology, passengers should check restrictions prior to travel as they may still be required to carry liquids within a clear plastic bag for the return journey back to Bournemouth Airport.’
Which UK airports have implemented the new rules?
Bournemouth Airport isn’t the only UK airport to introduce this technology.
The first CT scanners were introduced in Ireland in 2022 and around 350 scanners are in use in countries across Europe.
While the Government committed to a roll out of the new technology across the UK by June 2024, many airports – namely London Heathrow, Gatwick and Manchester Airport – have faced delays.
Smaller airports, such as Bristol and London City Airport were able to successfully roll out the new scanners in time.
Still, passengers flying from airports that were able to successfully implement the new technology are still able to keep their liquids and electronics inside their bags, rather than presenting them separately.
These airports include: Bournemouth, Bristol, London Luton, Newcastle, Teesside, Leeds Bradford, Birmingham, London Southend and London City.
Other airports, like Aberdeen and Stansted, do have the new scanners installed, but are currently unable to use them, meaning that all of the past rules still apply.
The new rules around liquids in cabin bags will be a welcome change for many. One American travelling in London recently said on Twitter that the old liquid rules in the UK were a ‘nightmare’.
‘The way you have to take out all liquids in the airport here is a nightmare, I spent so much time organizing my toiletry bag yesterday for it to now be a hot mess,’ the woman, known only as @amandabootsy wrote.
Others, however, are growing tired of the confusion caused by some UK airports having the new rules, and others still using the old ones.
‘Why does every airport in the stupid country have a different carry on liquids through security policy it’s ANNOYING,’ wrote @sacrebleualexis.
Why do we have a 100ml liquid rule in the UK?
Airports had already drastically changed following the 9/11 attacks.
Before then there were very few limits on what you could bring onto the plane, and even knives, up to four inches in length, were permitted.
All that changed following the 2006 transatlantic aircraft plot.
Terrorists had been poised to smuggle liquid explosives through security by disguising them as soft drinks.
They planned to carry the explosives aboard planes travelling from the United Kingdom to the United States and Canada.
As a result of the incident, unprecedented security measures were initially implemented at airports.
New rules introduced on August 10 2006 resulted in hundreds of cancelled flights, long delays and queues at UK airports.
In 2006, Metro reported: ’Yet despite the increased aggravation, the public’s desire to fly was undiminished. Nothing – not fear of terrorism, nor long queues, nor the credit crunch – deterred Britons from wishing to jet off to foreign climes.’
What about the 100ml rule?
While the clear bags rule for liquids has been axed at airports with the scanners, it was also said that the ‘tiny toiletries’ rule might also come to an end and there’s been a lot of back and forth about this major change.
This is because the new scanners initially made it so that people could carry liquids in containers over 100ml.
However, the Government reintroduced the ban on liquids over 100ml due to problems with the new generation scanners.
This caused travel chaos at some airports. In Birmingham and Bristol, confused passengers faced major delays while airport staff scrambled to make sense of the new rules following a last-minute U-turn.
Now, passengers must stick to the 100ml rule at all airports, including the ones with new scanners, and it’s unclear when the rules will change again.
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