UK Government issues important update on 100ml airport rule as peak summer travel hits

Holidaymakers flying out of UK airports have been warned to check rules surrounding liquid hand luggage allowances before travelling.

Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander says travellers should assume the 100ml limit remains in place, unless they've been told otherwise by their airport.

It comes after Edinburgh and Birmingham airports became the latest to install new scanning technology that allows security staff to gain a more detailed view inside people's hand luggage.

The government initially announced plans to install the CT scanners in all UK airports by June 2024, meaning travellers could bring up to two litres of liquids in their hand luggage. However, delays in installing the technology has led to different rules being in place depending on which airport you fly from.

Speaking on Times Radio, the Transport Secretary said: "The rollout of this new technology, the new scanning technology, has been overseen by the individual airports themselves.

"They have different contracts in place, different providers. We have a situation in Edinburgh and Birmingham where they’ve got the new technology in place now and so are allowing people who are travelling to take liquids in containers up to two litres through with them.

"At all other airports the 100ml rule stays in place. From my perspective, if we can give some flexibility to passengers that are travelling from airports where the technology is in place, I think it would be wrong to insist that everyone should travel with the 100ml."

When pushed about what this actually means for travellers, Alexander added: "You should work on the basis that it is 100ml at the moment unless you have heard from your airport otherwise.

“And I always advise people to check in with their airlines and their airports before travelling. And I’m hopeful that we get to a point where all airports have this new technology in place soon so that everyone can have that extra added flexibility when they’re travelling."

Current restrictions, which limit passengers to bringing liquids in containers no bigger than 100ml and placing them inside a clear plastic bag, came into place back in 2006 after counterterrorism forces successfully foiled a plot to blow up planes from London to the US, using liquid bombs.

In 2019, the government told all UK airports to upgrade to the new scanners by 2022, but delays meant the deadline was pushed back to June 2024.

Many of the bigger airports struggled to meet this deadline, due to structural changes required to accommodate the new machines, which are bigger and heavier. Last summer, the government told all airports to reintroduce the 100ml restrictions, regardless of whether they had implemented the new scanners.

Currently only Edinburgh Airport and Birmingham Airport have officially scrapped the 100ml restriction.