The 100ml limit for liquids in hand luggage came into effect after the Sept 11, 2001, attacks in New York. — OLIVER BERG/dpa
Restrictions for carry-on liquids are set to be lifted for the first time in some airports since they were introduced in the wake of the Sept 11 attacks in 2001 to prevent acts of terrorism.
Airports in Britain and Germany are among those preparing to remove the notorious 100ml limit on liquids in hand luggage with the help of new CT scanning equipment.
The devices, which scan luggage with the same kind of computer tomography scanners used in medicine, are expected to make life easier for passengers by letting them walk through security checks without having to unpack liquids and electronic devices.
Instead of just a few surveillance images, security officials have hundreds of images of the luggage without having to slow down the conveyor belt.
The CT scanner gives them three-dimensional views and layer-by-layer screening of the bag’s contents on the control screen. But, perhaps most significantly, the devices also let them spot solid and liquid explosives.
Passengers at Germany’s two largest airports can hope for more convenient and faster checks of their hand luggage from next year with CT scanners, while Britain is also aiming for a rapid rollout at its airports.
Several British media have reported that such systems are set to be in place by mid-2024. The technology is meanwhile already being tested in the United States, as well as in European Union states like Ireland, the Netherlands and Estonia.
While Munich in Germany recently announced a €45mil (RM207.32mil) expansion programme including 60 new types of luggage scanners, the Frankfurt operator Fraport also wants to begin with seven such devices from the beginning of the coming year.
Effectively the upper limit of 100ml per liquid container will then be abolished at these upgraded security areas.
Until now, many unprepared passengers lost time or had to throw cosmetics and other liquids away at the checkpoints if they did not pre-sort their carry on liquids into 100ml bottles.
Munich airport officials says their new system will allow four people to have their luggage checked at the same time, letting 160% more passengers be checked in the same amount of time.
Both travellers and the aviation industry are likely to welcome faster passenger checks without a loss of security, and according to Germany’s airport association ADV, the current procedures tie up too many resources and represent a “serious burden for both the travelling public and the national economy”.
However the rollout could still pose problems for anyone with a connecting flight. If one country increases the amount of liquids allowed in hand luggage, at subsequent airports it can then only be ensured with CT scanners that they do not contain explosives.
Passengers changing flights in another country might still have to observe stricter rules and undergo a follow-up check in order to get to their connecting flight. – dpa
