The UK aviation sector has long been in the throes of switching to new regulations allowing flyers to take up to two litres of liquid on board flights. Despite setbacks, infrastructural issues, delays, and missed and extended deadlines, a number of regional UK airports such as Bristol and London City had already succeeded in installing new screening equipment meant to enhance airport security and smooth out friction points by allowing passengers to keep items such as laptops and liquids inside their luggage as they pass through checkpoints. Some had already lifted the 100ml restrictions that have been in place since the mid 2000s.
But airports across the country were told earlier this week to stick to the old 100ml regime for now, amid the need for what the Department for Transport called “further improvements to be made to the new checkpoint”. The BBC has reported that the government received new information about the scanners and is working with international partners to resolve it.
In response to the reversal, the Airport Operators Association (AOA) said their members are “frustrated”. Echoing concerns voiced earlier this year by consumer watchdog Which?, the body said the constant back and forth on implementing the rules were causing confusion among the flying public.
The UK Secretary for Transport Mark Harper appeared to belittle the impact of the decision, denying it was taken as a result of a security threat and saying it was temporary and only affected the 6% of people flying from six regional airports where Next Generation Security Checkpoints (NGSC) had been put into operation.
But, says the AOA, that does not take into account the cost of disruption to airports which had already changed security staffing and processes, nor the hundreds of millions of pounds airports had laid out to prepare for the “huge” programme of change, under government orders.
According to the BBC, 30 airports as well as the AOA have written to the government to demand an explanation for the sudden switch back to the 100ml limit and asking when the move was decided. Accusing the government of putting “operators in a challenging position with no time to prepare,” Karen Dee, chief executive of the AOA said the announcement was a “surprise” that created “uncertainty for passengers just as airports enter their busiest periods of the year”.
