In August 2006 there was a terrorist plot to blow up a transatlantic flight and since then airports and the airline industry imposed a ban on taking liquids through security. Since that day passengers can only take a maximum of 100 millilitres and it needs to be kept in a see through plastic bag. This restriction has been a real pain but so far it has also cost Britain’s aviation industry in the region of £100 million for extra security costs and loss of duty free sales.
BAA, which runs the airports has said that 2 tonnes of alcohol a month are being confiscated at Heathrow airport alone along with thousands of bottles of perfume.
The UK government did have plans to relax the liquids rules but it now seems that due to some EU member states objecting this has been put back at least 12 months due to security concerns.
Passengers will no longer be limited to 100 millilitre bottles and will be able to buy duty-free alcohol without the risk of it being confiscated.
All this rests on the satisfactory conclusion of tests on new x-ray scanning equipment. Scientists are checking that the new equipment can detect bottles of hydrogen peroxide and other liquids that can be turned into bombs.The new machines cost more than £100,000 each and airports will have to show that they have invested in this new technology before they will be allowed to relax the rules on the carriage of liquids.
The ban on liquids has caused confusion from the start and the sooner it is lifted the better as far as we are concerned. Many airport passengers try to circumvent the rules in quite amusing ways though. One man at Manchester airport claimed frozen water was not a liquid, but he didn’t manage to convince the authorities. Another passenger drank a bottle of vodka in front of security staff to avoid having it confiscated; he was later removed from the flight for being drunk !
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