PASSENGERS across Europe once again have to deal with strict liquid rules, after they were reintroduced at airports throughout the continent yesterday.
The installation of new security scanners was due to significantly change things for travellers and, hopefully, make passing through airports a much smoother process.
However, plane passengers will have to wait before they can enjoy the benefits of the new security scanners, after the old 100ml rules were reintroduced across the board on Sunday.
Eventually, the new scanners will cut out the need to limit liquids to 100ml, as well as the need to remove them from bags for scanning, along with electronic items like laptops and tablets.
However, some airports have been much quicker to install the new technology than others, creating some confusion about which airports had the old 100ml rules in place and which ones didn’t.
Several airports in the UK, as well as a few in Europe, like Munich Airport, Rome Fiumicino Airport, Milano Malpensa Airport and Frankfurt Airport already have the new scanners in place.
For a short while, they were able to ditch the liquid restrictions, only for them to be brought back yesterday (September 1).
The European Commission is responsible for the reintroduced restrictions, following a similar decision made by the UK government.
Therefore, passengers travelling from European airports now need to make sure their liquids do not exceed 100ml once again.
The restrictions are set to stay in place for an indefinite period of time, with no date yet announced for them to be lifted again.
They could be set to stay in place for a while too, with the EU wanting more consistency to the technology throughout its airports.
This is to make it easier for passengers to know what the rules are when taking liquids through airports.
All airports operating inside the 27 EU member states, as well as Iceland, Switzerland and Norway, now need to comply with the original rules.
The 100ml restrictions are already in place in the UK, with the Government reintroducing the measures on June 9, 2024 – even though several UK airports had the new scanners up and running.
The UK is expected to be among the first to have the scanners installed at all of its airports, with the previous government giving them a deadline of June this year to have them in place.
Several have them in place now, but bigger airports like London Heathrow, London Gatwick, London Stansted and Manchester Airport have been given an extension until next summer.
For now holidaymakers have to stick to the rules as they had before, even at airports with the new machines in place.
The rule reversal was slammed by the Airports Council International Europe (ACI Europe), who said they were “a blow to major investments”
Director Oliver Jankovec told Travel Weekly: “Airports which have been early adopters of this new technology are being heavily penalised operationally and financially.
“They took the decision to invest and deploy C3 scanners in good faith, based on the EU having greenlighted this equipment without any restriction.
“The decision to now impose significant restrictions to their use questions the trust and confidence the industry can place in the current EU certification system for aviation security equipment.”
We’ve rounded up how much hand luggage you can take on UK airlines when booking their most basic fare.
Ryanair
One personal bag measuring no more than 40cm x 20cm x 25cm
EasyJet
One personal bag measuring no larger than 45cm x 36cm x 20cm
Jet2
One personal item that fits underneath the seat in front and one cabin bag no larger than 56cm x 45cm x 25cm weighing up to 10kg
TUI
One personal item that its underneath the seat in front and one cabin bag no larger than 55cm x 40cm x 20cm weighing up to 10kg
British Airways
One personal bag no larger than 40cm x 30cm x 15cm and one cabin bag no larger than 56cm x 45cm 25cm weighing up to 23kg
Virgin Atlantic
One personal item that fits underneath the seat in front and one cabin bag no larger than 56cm x 36cm x 23cm weighing up to 10kg
Meanwhile, passengers have been warned that the rule reversals could lead to queues and delays.
And these are the mistakes you should never make at airport security.