More and more airports around the world are deploying next generation scanners that allow passengers to leave liquids and electronics in their hand luggage during security checks. Spanish airports will also remove the liquid restriction from 2024, airport operator Aena revealed.
Barcelon El-Prat and Madrid Barajas will be the first ones to be equipped with the 3D X-ray scanners, as of 2024. Other Aena airports will follow, with Malaga Costa del Sol in 2025 and then Gran Canaria, Tenerife Sur, Fuerteventura, Cesar Manrique Lanzarote, Alicante-Elche Miguel Hernandez, Ibiza, Bilbao, Menorca and Valencia from 2026.
The restrictions were put in place in 2006, when British authorities were informed of an upcoming terrorist threat, according to which passengers were planning on carrying self-made bombs in drink bottles. Since then, airport security rules state that all liquids, perfumes, creams, aerosols, foams, gels, shampoo and toothpaste must be packed in individual containers not exceeding 100 ml. These must be carried in a transparent, resealable plastic bag that has to be taken out of the hand luggage, along with all electronic devices.
This is now changing thanks to Computer Tomograph (CT) scanners, similar with the ones used for medical procedures, allow for a more accurate detection of dangerous items, like weapons and explosives, by creating very detailed 3D images of a bag’s contents, which security officers can then view and rotate to better analyse the contents, and using complex algorithms that can automatically detect weapons, explosives and other prohibited items. Due to the high accuracy of the apparatus, they can even detect explosives in liquids, which is why travellers would be allowed to leave them in their bags when going through security.
Palma de Mallorca Airport previously announced a €559 million investment in this technology, planning to remove the liquid restrictions by the end of 2024. The smart scanners have also been in testing at London’s Heathrow Airport since 2019, with the UK government recently announcing a plan to introduce them at all of the country’s airports by 2024. In the United States, the Transport Security Administration invested $781.2 million in 1,000 scanners, deployed across the country in the summer of 2022.
