Brits travelling to Europe have been warned that new safety regulations and rules will be introduced which will affect what they can pack in their baggage, with EU authorities imposing the new measures from early September.
The government is requiring all airports to install state-of-the-art scanners which can measure up to two litres of liquids in carry-on baggage, but major airports in Europe and the UK have been told to suspend their rollout over concerns about the scanners.
The new restrictions will come into effect from September 1, 2024, and will impose a 100ml limit on individual containers of liquids, eliminating the main benefit that the new scanners were meant to bring to passengers, reports the Mallorca Daily Bulletin.
The change to the 100ml liquids limit and the installation of high-tech scanners was first announced in 2018 to make travel more efficient for staff and passengers. The change means passengers will no longer be required to remove liquids from their hand baggage and will be able to carry liquids over 100ml.
Brussels Airport was the first to announce the decision to temporarily revert to the older measures after technical problems were found with its new C3 explosives detection system. A European Commission spokesman said: “The Commission has not changed its view on the quality of this new generation of scanners and their performance is not in doubt.”
As before, passengers must place liquids in their carry-on luggage in a single clear plastic bag and remove the bag from their bag before going through the security scanners, and liquids over 100ml must be placed in checked luggage.
According to a Euronews report, the move would represent a major financial loss for the airport, as the new system would be “eight times more expensive” and “four times” more expensive to maintain.
This means airports will “severely be penalised” as the benefits of using cutting-edge technology go largely unrealised, Airports Council Europe (ACI) said in a statement.
ACI Secretary General Olivier Jankovec said: “Security is non-negotiable and one of the top priorities for European airports, so all airports will fully comply with the new regulations. However, airports that are early adopters of this new technology are facing heavy operational and financial penalties.”
“They have made the decision to invest in and deploy C3 scanners in good faith, given that the EU has approved the equipment without any restrictions.
“The decision to now impose significant restrictions on its use calls into question the trust and confidence that industry can have in the current EU certification scheme for aviation security equipment. We need to learn lessons from this situation to ensure that the EU certification scheme provides the necessary legal certainty and operational stability going forward.”
