You can soon carry more than 100 ml liquid past airport security, thanks to a new technology

If you know the pain of having to throw away your favourite bottle of perfume or lotion because it surpassed the 100 ml limit, the UK government might just have solved the problem for you. 

Let's face it. No one enjoys waiting in line for airport security, only to find out that you must abandon some of your stuff.

So, what's new? The UK government, in their effort to make air travel a little less chaotic, announced a deadline of June 2024 for most UK airports to install new high-tech 3D scanners that show more detailed images of baggage. Due to the pandemic, an earlier installation date was postponed.

How will it help? Due to these scanners (which are very similar to those CT scanners ones you see in hospitals), the 100 ml liquid rule will be:

1. Increased to two litres, and
2. Passengers will no longer be required to remove electrical goods from their luggage at security (finally less fighting over trays)

 
What is the present law? 

• The current procedure, '3-1-1 for carry-ons', allows just 100 ml liquids, gels, and aerosols to be transported inside the airplane, apart from the checked-in bags.
• This rule hasn't always been in place; in fact, it was introduced 16 years ago, in November 2006.

2006 transatlantic aircraft plot: It is believed that a British man from Birmingham, Ahmed Ali, mediated the connection between the plotters and Al-Qaeda. When officers searched his luggage, they discovered a powdered soft drink, Tang and a huge amount of batteries, which alarmed the authorities. It was eventually revealed that they were constructing bombs out of those bottles, which they intended to detonate on the plane. The explosive was strong enough to blow up 10 planes, according to some. 

The man was actually boarding a flight from the United Kingdom to the United States and Canada. And soon after this incident, liquids were altogether banned but three months later, only 100 ml of liquids were allowed.

Now, when UK made it a carry-on rule, everyone else in the world followed; including India.

UK Transport Secretary Mark Harper told BBC that the new technology would reduce queue times to improve the "passenger experience, and most importantly, detect potential threats".

The technology was already in place in some US airports like Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson and Chicago's O'Hare.

India however hasn't announced any new upgrades to the airport scanner as of now.

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