New 3D security scanners are still being rolled out across UK and European airports, and as we head towards the busy Easter and summer holidays, the different rules in place at different airports are likely to catch out travellers.
While in theory the new scanners allow passengers to leave their liquids and electronics in their hand luggage, this isn’t the case at all airports, even those with the modern technology already in place.
To help inform travellers of what to expect, global booking platform Omio has researched the rules on liquids in hand luggage that currently apply at UK and major European airports.
It found that nine UK airports allow passengers to carry liquids of up to two litres in their hand luggage. These are London Heathrow, London Gatwick, Birmingham, Bristol, Liverpool, Edinburgh, Belfast, Derry and Bournemouth.
Eleven UK airports allow passengers to carry liquids in bottles of up to 100ml, but there’s no longer any need to place these in a plastic bag. These are London Stansted, London Luton, London City, Glasgow, Newcastle, East Midlands, Leeds Bradford, Cardiff, Newquay, Jersey and Southampton.
Electronic devices such as laptops and tablets can also often remain in passengers’ bags at the airports with the 3D scanners.
However, it is worth noting that metal bottles – such as drinks bottles – can only go through the scanners if they are empty, regardless of their size.
Several UK airports still apply the traditional 100ml restriction, up to a maximum of one litre in total, and liquids must be placed in a single plastic bag. These are Manchester, Glasgow Prestwick – PIK, Aberdeen, Humberside, Norwich, Exeter, Guernsey, Isle of Man and Kirkwall.
In Europe, the following airports are among that allow passengers to carry up to two litres of liquid in their hand luggage:
- Málaga – AGP
- Rome – FCO
- Barcelona – BCN
- Prague – PRG
- Madrid – MAD
- Palma de Mallorca – PMI
- Helsinki – HEL
- Dublin – DUB
- Malta – MLA
- Milan Malpensa – MXP
- Amsterdam – AMS
- Berlin – BER
- Frankfurt – FRA
- Munich – MUC
Traditional liquid rules still apply at airports including:
- Lisbon – LIS
- Copenhagen – CPH
- Brussels – BRU
- Geneva – GVA
- Venice – VCE
- Ibiza – IBZ
- Zurich – ZRH
- Naples – NAP
- Nice – NCE
- Marseille – MRS
- Salzburg – SZG
- Athens – ATH
- Budapest – BUD
- Stockholm – ARN
- Oslo – OSL
- Istanbul – IST
- Vienna – VIE
- Warsaw – WAW
- Yerevan – EVN
- Sofia – SOF
- Paris CDG
- Palermo PMO
- Heraklion HER
- Riga – RIX
- Podgorica – TGD
- Zagreb – ZAG
- Basel EuroAirport – BSL
- Bucharest – OTP
- Antalya – AYT
- Reykjavík – KEF
- Cologne – CGN
- Hamburg – HAM
