By mid-2024, UK airports will allow passengers to carry up to 67.6 ounces (2 litres) of liquids in hand luggage, up from the current limit of 3.4 ounces (100 millilitres). Travellers will also not have to remove liquids or large electronic items such as laptops from their bags when passing through security checkpoints.
The UK government announced the upcoming changes in a statement last week, calling them “the biggest shake-up of airport security rules in decades”. The current liquid restrictions have been in place since 2006, when English authorities uncovered a terrorist plot to smuggle liquid explosives on flights to the United States.
“Tiny toiletries have become a staple of airport security checkpoints, but all this is about to change,” Mark Harper, the head of Transport for Britain, said in a statement.
To make this vision a reality, all UK airports will have to install updated security screening devices that will make it easier to scan hand luggage and identify potential threats.
The new X-ray scanners are based on computed tomography (CT) technology, similar to the CT scans used by doctors in hospitals. The technology creates highly detailed 3D images of the contents of your luggage, then uses sophisticated threat detection algorithms to alert security agents to any potential problems.
Following trials of the technology that began in 2018, the UK government has set a June 2024 deadline for all airports to upgrade their equipment and processes. The new technology should help speed up security checks and reduce queues.