2 litres of liquid in hand luggage? UK shows the way to do it safely

How many times have you been pulled up by airport security staff over innocuous items such as wet wipes and shampoo sachets because of the prohibition on carrying liquid beyond 100ml in your hand luggage? Even the famed roshogollas of Bengal haven’t been exempt, with passengers being asked to leave the precious boxes behind because the sugar syrup was beyond the permitted limit.

However, the British government seems to be setting a precedent, and if other countries follow suit, our days of airport agony may be over. The British government is about to bring in new technology at its airports by June 2024, which could allow passengers to carry liquid containers of up to two litres in hand luggage, the New York Times has reported.

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Not only that, such technology may help relax and speed up security checks and do away with the requirement to extract big electronics, such as laptops or tablets, from carry-on bags. In fact, Britain is not the only one. Some other airports around the world have reportedly already started introducing similar technology.

The new screening technology is a kind of X-ray machine that provides a 3-D image of the contents of a bag and uses “highly advanced threat detection algorithms” to clear it (or not). Airports in Britain have been given time until June 2024 to upgrade their equipment and screening processes, the NYT quoted the UK government as saying.

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Most airports around the world currently allow passengers to carry only up to 100 ml of liquid in their hand luggage, and these should be put in a small, clear plastic bag before security check. These rules were introduced in 2006 after the British authorities foiled a terrorist plot to carry liquid chemicals in water bottles in hand luggage and combine them into explosive cocktails mid-air.