Britain’s biggest airports are to miss the June deadline to install new security scanners, meaning the government will not be able to relax the ban on passengers carrying liquids in their hand luggage this summer.
Heathrow, Gatwick and Manchester Airports Group said that they hope to complete the upgrade of their scanners by 2025.
The next generation of security equipment – whose computed tomography (CT) scans provide clearer, more accurate 3D images – is already fully in use at some UK airports.
At London City and Teesside, where the scanners are in use, passengers are not required to remove laptops or liquid containers from hand luggage and can take larger bottles in their carry-on cases – although they may not be able to bring them back from their destination, where other rules apply.
However, in most airports liquid can only be taken through security in containers of 100ml or less under UK legislation, despite the capability of the new scanners. The Department for Transport is not expected to change its rules to allow up to 2l bottles until all airports are fully compliant.
The technology should, however, speed up security, with fewer rules to delay passengers who may not be travelling with checked-in bags. Currently even small tubes of toothpaste or other toiletries have to be removed from hand luggage and put in another clear bag.
Restrictions on liquids were introduced in 2006 after a plot to blow up a transatlantic flight was uncovered.
The government had originally set a deadline of 2022 for the new CT scanners to be introduced, which in 2022 was pushed back to June 2024.
Most UK airports have started implementation, but the weight, size, cost and training requirements for the new equipment has made it a lengthy process. Some smaller airports, many of which nearly went out of business during Covid, initially struggled to meet the multimillion-pound cost of new scanners. Other airports have had to expand buildings or replace floors to bear the weight of the substantially heavier machines.
Security staff, who were in short supply in the UK during a chaotic post-pandemic recovery, also need time off to be trained, and bigger airports have struggled to find time and space to install and implement scanners while still running busy operations.
Heathrow is spending about £1bn on the new equipment, having to upgrade a total of 146 security lanes across four terminals – more than all other UK airports combined.
MAG, which owns Manchester, Stansted and East Midlands airports, said the scanners would be introduced “lane by lane” at its airport. A spokesperson said it was making good progress, but it was “a complex programme of work requiring the expansion of terminal facilities, while at the same time maintaining operations during construction”.
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It expects to have many scanners in place by June, but not complete the programme until 2025.
A spokesperson for Gatwick said the airport “will have made significant progress installing state-of-the-art next-generation security scanners by June 2024 in both terminals”, and expects to complete work by spring 2025.
While the government could sanction airports for non-compliance after June, it is understood to be preparing to grant extensions for businesses struggling to meet the deadline.
A DfT spokesperson said: “The UK has some of the most robust aviation security measures in the world and this cutting-edge technology will enhance security and boost the passenger experience.
“We are in regular contact with airports as they move towards June 2024 deadline for upgrading their screening equipment and processes. For security reasons we don’t talk in detail about aviation security measures.”
