It's theoretically great news for travelers leaving the U.K. with carry-on hand luggage—that by June 2024, all U.K. airports should have scrapped the 100ml limit on liquids.
The bad news, though, is that not all U.K. airports will make the deadline and this could lead to widespread confusion over the upcoming Easter and summer holidays in 2024.
The U.K. government's website is still advocating the 100ml rule for all travelers at all U.K. airports meaning it is up to passengers to work out which airports accept which size liquids and that will inevitably lead to mistakes and hold ups.
Here's an explainer for travelers departing from U.K. airports over the upcoming holiday season.
The 100ml Liquids In Carry-On Luggage Was Introduced In 2006 Across All U.K. Airports
The 100ml liquid rule began in 2006 after an attempted terrorist attack foiled by British police—a terrorist group tried to smuggle hydrogen peroxide in several 500ml drinks bottles with the idea of turning them into bombs when onboard, in as many as 10 airplanes.
Since that point, 18 years ago, passengers departing from U.K. airports have been obliged to limit liquids in their hand luggage to individual transparent 100ml bottles that can fit inside a closed transparent bag of no more than 20cm by 20cm.
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The 100ml Rule Will Be Scrapped As New 3D Scanners Are Introduced
In 2022, ministers voted to scrap the ban, because new 3D scanner technology enables airport security to better see the insides of passenger bags, similar to scanners used in hospitals, a bit like an x-ray. When all U.K. airports have the new scanners in place, passengers will be able to leave electronic equipment and liquids (in bottles of up to 2 litres in total) inside their bags and skip through security. Items that are not allowed, like weapons, can also be more easily detected.
The impact hardly needs to be stated in terms of reducing lines and wait times at busy U.K airports—London Heathrow and London Gatwick are some of the busiest airports in the world and Heathrow alone, has 146 security lanes.
Which U.K. Airports Have Already Removed The Rule On 100ml Limits In Hand Luggage?
By early 2023, Teeside and then London City were able to scrap the rule. At London city, the average time taken to get through a security check has gone down from seven minutes in 2022 to three minutes and 45 seconds.
Which U.K. Airports Still Have The 100ml Limit In Hand Luggage?
At the moment, all other U.K. airports except Teeside and London City have the rule in place, although many have already started using 3D scanners and so some security lanes will be state-of-the-art and some won't—meaning that travelers must assume that they need to follow the 100ml limit rule.
The four largest airports in the U.K., Heathrow, Gatwick, Manchester and Stansted will not be ready until 2025 but all other airports are expected to announce a full scrapping of the rule at some point through 2024.
Why Are There Delays In Scrapping The 100ml Rule At U.K. Airports?
The delays are understandable. The scanners being used at the moment across most airports in the U.K. are much smaller, as Nick Barton, chief executive of Birmingham Airport, told The Telegraph: “the existing scanner is like a large domestic washing machine. The new machines are the size of a Ford Transit.” Some airports need to reinforce floors or expand security areas to fit them in.
There is also the issue of staff training. Clearly it would take longer to train the security staff working at London Heathrow's airport that receive 80 million passengers each year, than the staff at Teeside airport, where 170,000 travelers pass through annually.
There are also delays expected because of supply chain issues, as there are only two suppliers for U.K. airports to use.
After The Rule Is Scrapped, Passengers Might Still Need To Follow 100ml Rule
Crucially, passengers departing from U.K. airports with large bottles of expensive liquids might not be able to return with them, if destination airports don't use the same 3D scanners—many airports around the world do not.
Passengers traveling between Amsterdam's Schiphol, Miami International, Rome's Leonardo da Vinci International airport or Donegal in Ireland would be okay, as these currently use the newer 3D scanners.
Across Europe, however, not many of the 347 major airports are not yet using the new scanners. Imagine you are re-routed too, to another local airport that doesn't use the new generation of scanners? Your lovely large bottles of liquids might have to be confiscated.
Are Airports Outside The U.K. Scrapping The 100ml Rule?
Across the U.S., Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson and Chicago's O'Hare, amongst others, have been using this technology for years, as have airports across the Middle and Far East.
Helsinki, Frankfurt, Rome Fiumicino, Milan (both Linate and Malpensa), Cork and Shannon are currently installing the new 3D scanners and Dublin, Madrid Barajas, Palma de Mallorca and Barcelona El-Prat will bring them in at some point throughout 2024. Paris-Orly and Geneva have done trials and Munich and Malaga, will follow past 2025. Spain hopes to be entirely converted by 2026.
Banning The 100ml Rule Will Change Our Travel Behavior
One of the losers may be the travel-size toiletries industry. Since 2006, sales have skyrocketed at U.K. airports and this global market is expected to grow at an annual rate of 4.5% to reach $3.2 billion in 2030.
It's also unclear how being able to travel with larger bottles might change our behavior. Will we take on more carry-on luggage and check in less hold luggage if we can take larger volumes of liquids? Larger cabin bags—currently—cost less than larger carry-on bags, so cost might play a factor here. In turn, as The Telegraph points out, more cabin bags might lead to less space in the cabin, forcing airlines to place them in the hold, so we might all end up at the carrousel anyway.
