Security checks update

The idea that the major UK airports will have dropped the 100ml rule for liquids at security by next summer looks like a target too far.  The inconvenience of removing laptops and tablets from bags will continue.

The 100ml liquid has been with us since 2006 after a foiled terrorist attack.

Announced by Transport Secretary Mark Harper in December 2022, he said at the time the move was “ushering in a new era of improved security and passenger experience”.

As regards taking off coats and jackets the rule seems flexible, not required in the UK, but in place in many overseas airports. Belts, a constant form of aggravation, still require to be removed, even if entirely visible!

Two small airports Teesside in County Durham, and London City have already scrapped the 100ml rule by installing all new scanners.  Going through security at both is very quick, likewise a temporary experimental system at Heathrow T4.  The airport points out that its 146 security lanes are more than all other UK airports combined.  

Ministers originally told airport operators that they have until June to install advanced CT scanners.

However, Heathrow, Gatwick, Stansted and Manchester are behind schedule.

Ben Clackworthy at The Times reports that delays with the rollout of the new measures is “almost inevitable”.  

“It’s going to be a struggle for the big airports,” a source told him. “One of the biggest issues they face is fitting the new scanners and retraining staff without impacting the flow of passengers”.

Airport bosses are understood to be particularly concerned about mixed messaging if some security lanes are fitted with new CT scanners and others traditional x-ray machines.

Installing the new scanners involves reinforcing the floors in some terminals. Heathrow expects to complete the project in 2025.

Gatwick is making “significant progress” and “plans to have completed the major logistical operation required to install the remaining scanners in Q1 2025”.

A spokesman for Manchester Airports Group, which includes Stansted, said: “We continue to make good progress at our airports on the introduction of new security screening equipment, as part of the UK-wide programme.

“This is a complex programme of work requiring the expansion of terminal facilities, while at the same time maintaining operations during construction. We are rolling out the new technology lane by lane at Manchester and London Stansted airports, with several new lanes already in operation”.

A Department for Transport spokesman said: “We are in regular contact with airports as they move towards the June 2024 deadline for upgrading their screening equipment and processes. For security reasons we do not provide further detail around aviation security measures”.

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