Airport liquid ban to stay

The ban on carrying liquids, aerosols and gels above 100ml in hand luggage will remain in place until April 29, 2013, if a revised timetable drawn up last week by security officials from member states is rubber-stamped by the European parliament.

The draft regulation, seen by ‘The Guardian’, raises the possibility of a two-tier airport security system by allowing individual airports to lift volume restrictions on liquids as soon as they buy the correct screening machinery.

Under such a scenario, passengers could shuttle between airports where liquids are unrestricted and smaller destinations where they will be forced to dump or check in drinks, toiletries and perfume above a certain size.

“This way, airports would be able to facilitate the carriage of liquids by departing passengers by deploying, for example, screening equipment for liquid explosives at one security check lane. Furthermore, some airports may choose to install advanced equipment more quickly,” the document says.

Duty-free goods

Transfer passengers from non-EU countries will be allowed to carry liquids on to connecting flights from 2011, ending a restriction that has seen the impounding of duty-free goods. However, duty-free purchases must be packed in a sealed bag with a receipt showing where and when the goods were bought.

The commission says all airports should be able to screen suspect liquids in just over three years. It has altered plans to relax the rules in 2012 for airports handling more than 10 million passengers a year.

Smaller airports would have waited until 2014 but the proposal was deemed impractical and potentially confusing for passengers. Air passengers must carry liquids and gels in containers no larger than 100ml under current restrictions, which were imposed in 2006 after the break-up of a plot to blow up transatlantic airliners travelling from Heathrow to North America.