These 11 UK Airports Just Ditched a Major Hand Luggage Rule – Here’s What That Means for Your Next Trip

Flying: one of humanity’s crowning achievements — yet somehow, we’ve managed to turn it into a lesson in boredom and frustration. How is it that zipping through the sky at 600 miles per hour feels like waiting in line for the DMV? The culprit, of course, isn’t the flight itself, but the labyrinth of rules dictating what you can—or can’t—shove into your hand luggage. Liquids, in particular, have become the bane of every traveler’s existence: no containers bigger than 100ml, and they all have to cozy up together in a transparent plastic bag you’re forced to display like some weird security badge. But hold onto your boarding pass — new scanner tech, the very same 3D X-ray wizards hospitals use, is starting to shake things up at select UK airports, making those squabbles over bottles and gels a thing of the past… or at least, close to it. Curious how this came to be and what it means for your next trip? Buckle up. LEARN MORE.

For an act as revolutionary as flying, we certainly know how to make it tedious.

While the ability to get human beings travelling through the skies at great speeds is a genuinely monumental achievement it’s basically a glorified version of getting a bus, only with a lot more security checks.

Among the most tedious of these is what you can and can’t take in your luggage.

When flying you’ll have checked baggage which is the stuff that you plonk onto a conveyor belt and goes in the hold of a plane, while the other stuff is hand luggage which is a smaller bag that you can take with you into the cabin of the aircraft.

Rules on what you can and can’t take with you in hand luggage are pretty strict, one of the most annoying ones is the restriction on liquids.

They can’t be in containers larger than 100ml, and those containers must be kept in a transparent plastic bag which you’ll be expected to show to airport security as you pass through.

However, the implementation of new scanner technology has meant that some of the restrictions around your hand luggage will be changing when you pass through certain airports in the UK.

You know the drill, no liquids in the hand luggage more than 100ml and they’ve got to be in a clear bag (Getty Stock Image)

How did the 100ml airport liquids rule first come about?

It was a sudden change that happened almost 20 years ago after a terrorist plot to target transatlantic flights and kill thousands of people was foiled.

Their plot was to suicide bomb planes with explosive components that were disguised inside bottles, with the intention of building the bombs on board the flight.

After the authorities caught on and stopped the plot, new restrictions came in during August 2006 which demanded that airline passengers not carry anything more than a wallet on board in their hand luggage, with the only exception being mothers being allowed bottles of milk for their baby if they demonstrated it was actually milk by tasting it in front of airport security staff.

A few months later, the rules were changed again after baggage handlers complained about all the extra things they had to deal with after people could take barely anything on as hand luggage.

The rules were changed to what they are now, but they were always supposed to be a temporary solution until new technology was brought in.

The rules were introduced after a terrorist plot which intended to sneak bombs onto planes in bottles was foiled in 2006 (Getty Stock Image)

How does the new airport security technology work?

The plan was to have the new infrastructure in place for 2022, but that deadline was kicked down the road a little way to 1 June, 2024, and even then several airports didn’t meet the deadline.

The new gizmos are called Computed Tomography scanners, or CT scanners, which use the same technology as scanners you’d find in hospitals.

They use X-rays to create a 3D image of your luggage that security staff can use to identify what you’re trying to bring on board a plane.

With the new technology in place, airport security can now properly see what’s in your bag without making you unpack it, so the main culprits of liquids and laptops which you had to remove and scan separately are now able to be left in there.

CT scanners create a 3D image of your hand luggage, so there’s no need to keep your liquids separate (John Keeble/Getty Images)

Which airports have now scrapped the liquids rule?

The rule change in place still requires you to put your liquids in 100ml containers, but at some airports you don’t need to go fishing them out of your hand luggage and stick them in an individual clear plastic bag any more.

In fact, many of these airports now ask that if you are bringing liquids in your hand luggage that you keep them in whichever bag the rest of your hand luggage is kept in.

So the rule on 100ml containers is still in place, though it may be changed in the future, and 11 airports across the UK now no longer demand you find an extra bag for them.

The 11 airports which have already scrapped this rule are as follows:

• Belfast International
• Birmingham
• Bristol
• Edinburgh
• Gatwick
• Leeds Bradford
• London City
• Luton
• Newcastle
• Southend
• Teesside

The changes made mean that passengers are waltzing through security in a matter of minutes and the process is just so much smoother now that people aren’t having to dig out all their liquids and keep them separate.

Other airports across the UK still require you to keep your liquids in a separate bag, so make sure you look up the airport travel restrictions before you make your journey so you know what’s expected of you.

CT scanners are still being installed in other major airports in the UK, so the current list will likely grow before long.

Gatwick is one of the airports which have scrapped this rule, other airports like Heathrow and Manchester are still catching up (Yau Ming Low/Getty Images)

What do the new liquid rules mean for global travel?

Just as the rules are different depending on which UK airport you’re travelling through, so too are they different depending on the country you’re flying from.

Different airports around the world have different rules which you should check before you make your journey.

EU countries still require you to use small, clear bags to store your liquids in, while over in the US, the restrictions are even tougher.

Those travelling around the world could end up getting tripped up where one airport allows them to bring their liquids on with their hand luggage but another one for a different leg of the journey demands they put them in a separate bag.

As always, check the various restrictions of the airports you’re planning to travel through before you make your journey.