New rules removing the 100ml cap on liquid in hand luggage will be temporarily reintroduced for passengers travelling from all UK airports from Sunday onwards.
The Department for Transport (DfT) said the move is to “enable further improvements to be made to the new checkpoint systems”.
The DfT clarified that this is a routine measure and not made in response to a specific threat, but did not say when the measure is set to be lifted.
The news comes after the department announced a “major shake-up of airport security rules” focused on the screening of liquids and electrical items in December 2022.
The shake-up looked to remove the 100ml limit as a result of advancements in airport scanning technology. At the time, Transport Secretary Mark Harper said the move would speed up waiting times across UK airports.
Airports were initially set a deadline of June 2024 to install the new security technology, though only a minority were able to implement the move within the deadline.
The nationwide deadline to install the next-generation airport scanners currently stands at June 2025, after some of UK’s largest airports, including London Heathrow and Manchester City, expressed concerns about being about being able meet the initial deadline.
Some airports including Aberdeen, Inverness and Stornoway still have currently operational versions of the new scanners, and passengers will still be able to get through security with over 100ml of liquids in their hand luggage.
The DfT first introduced the limitations on liquids in 2006, following a terror plot which looked to detonate peroxide-based liquid explosives held in drinks bottles disguised as soft drinks.
The plot was discovered by the Metropolitan Police following a major surveillance operation, which lead to three men being found guilty of conspiracy to murder after a trial in London.
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