Airport liquids limit reinstated in EU after scanner concerns

After installing the most technologically advanced scanners, some airports in Europe lifted the limit of 100 millilitres for liquids in hand luggage. Passengers' joy did not last long.

Several European airports removed the long-standing limit of 100 millilitres for liquids in hand luggage last year. Airports in the Netherlands, Ireland, Lithuania, Malta, Germany, Sweden, and Italy installed technologically advanced CT scanners. The equipment was intended, among other things, to eliminate the need to limit the volume of liquids. Last year, Rome, Amsterdam, and Dublin decided to lift the 100-millilitre limit.

However, from 1 September, all airports in the European Union reverted to limiting liquids in hand luggage. The European Commission decided this at the end of July 2024. The justification was a lack of sufficient certainty about the effectiveness of the new scanning technology, which was supposed to detect, among other things, explosives in luggage. The Commission emphasised that maintaining the limit on liquids was unrelated to any new threat.

Airports have restrictions on the amount of liquids that can be carried in hand luggage because traditional security devices cannot effectively detect liquid explosives. There are two significant differences compared to the new CT scanners. The latter produces images in 3D because X-rays are emitted from a tube that rotates around the object. This means that electronics, such as tablets and computers, will no longer be able to hide prohibited items or explosives.

Secondly, CT scanners' image quality is much higher, allowing algorithms to recognise and identify the possible presence of explosives in liquids packed in hand luggage. However, the European Commission decided at the end of July that this technology is not yet advanced enough to lift restrictions on the amount of liquids. No date was given for when the regulations might be relaxed again.