Airports throughout the EU will reintroduce the strict 100ml liquid rule for carry-on baggage from September 1.
The rule will resume at all airports in the EU, as well as Iceland, Switzerland, Liechtenstein and Norway, including those which have already installed the new high-tech security scanners.
The rule was dropped in a few airports in the UK which had installed the scanners at all checkpoints. However, this was revoked to ensure security procedures are the same across all airports.
According to Airports Council International Europe, the reimplementation of the liquid rules will cause significant operational strain. It will require the deployment of additional security staff and the reconfiguration of security checkpoints.
The reversal is not without controversy.
“… All airports will comply in full with the new restriction. However, the fact remains that those airports which have been early adopters of this new technology are being heavily penalised both operationally and financially. They had taken the decision to invest and deploy C3 scanners in good faith, based on the EU having greenlighted this equipment without any restriction attached. The decision to now impose significant restrictions to their use questions the trust and confidence the industry can place in the current EU certification system for aviation security equipment,” said Olivier Jankovec, ACI Europe Director General.
Although the reintroduction of the rule is temporary, it is not clear when it will be reversed, as it may take years for all airports in Europe to implement standardised security technology to backtrack the liquid rule.
