Soon you can carry liquids in cabin luggage without any restriction

A silent revolution is happening in how the world travels through airport security, but most of us won’t even have noticed.

After nearly 16 years, the requirement to put liquids into 100-millilitre containers and take electronics out of bags may soon cease to exist. Across the world, several airports have this new technology in place that will allow that rule to be scrapped, and some are now beginning to drop the ban.

In October 2021, Shannon Airport, in the west of Ireland, quietly announced the computed tomography, or CT, scanning security system, had been installed.

Liquids and electronics could now remain in bags, with no restrictions on liquid volume, and cabin bags could be whisked through the scans in new larger trays.

It’s not the first time Shannon, Europe’s most westerly airport, was a global pioneer. The world’s first Duty-Free shop opened here in 1947, and in 2009 it became the first airport in the world, outside of the Americas, to provide full US pre-clearance facilities.

Implemented during the pandemic, it was only when international travel resumed in March 2022 that the airport’s move started to gain wider attention. Donegal Airport, in the northwest of Ireland, has also followed suit by installing new technology and dropping the 100-millilitre rule.

So how does this new CT technology work, which airports are already using it, and why aren’t more places relaxing their restrictions?
Kevin Riordan, head of checkpoint solutions at Smiths Detection, the company that provides Shannon’s security equipment and a global leader in computed tomography technology, explains.

Just as with the CT scans we know from hospitals, the security scanners at airports replace conventional 2D X-ray scanning with much more precise 3D imaging.

Source: Agencies