UK Travellers Must Avoid This Airport Liquid Mistake, Warns Transport Secretary

This year seemed to spell some good news for travellers – recent developments at multiple UK airports meant it looked like 100ml liquid limits would be over for visitors through London Gatwick, Edinburgh, and other sites.

That’s because they’ve installed new scanners which use computed tomography (CT), also seen in medical devices. These make the contents of a passenger’s bag available in greater detail to staff.

But speaking to Times Radio, transport secretary Heidi Alexander threw a security-safe amount of cold water on the idea that you can bring whatever liquids you like aboard. 

“The rollout of this new technology, the new scanning technology, has been overseen by the individual airports themselves,” she shared. 

“They have different contracts in place, different providers.”

The travel secretary warned we should still stick to the 100ml limit in most locations

Though multiple airports have the tech that would make 100ml limits obsolete, those are being adopted at different rates. 

Some airports have a combination of older and newer tech, meaning 100ml containers are still advised. 

“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 2 litres through with them,” Alexander told Times Radio. 

“At all other airports, the 100ml rule stays in place.” 

She added: “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.

“My advice... [is] that you should work on the basis that it is 100ml at the moment unless you have heard from your airport otherwise,” she continued, though she’s 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”.

What are the current UK liquid rules for airports?

Per the government’s site, the rules on liquids exclude those needed for medical purposes, special dietary requirements, baby food or baby milk.

But if those don’t apply, we’re still generally limited to 100ml for now. Even if a container that holds more than 100ml is only part-full, it’ll still prove an issue with security in most airports.

Hopefully, as more CT scanners are installed and put into operation in airports across the UK, you’ll be ableto bring more liquids through hand luggage.

For now, though, you should check this with both the airport you fly from and the one you land into to be double-sure. If in doubt, bring 100ml.