UK airport scraps 100ml liquid rule with new scanners

I flew yesterday and in the plane realized I had some water from my daughter in the backpack. It was scanned and missed of course. And why wouldn&#x27;t they miss it, it&#x27;s a waste of time anyway. But at least they harassed a 3-year old to stand in a certain way to get scanned and fail at it. Unrelated, but I&#x27;ve come to believe it&#x27;s a form of social welfare. So much policing for nothing, not just airports, wars on drugs etc. without it most of the people doing it would be unemployed.<p>&gt; Transportation Security Administration screeners allowed banned weapons and mock explosives through airport security checkpoints 95 percent of the time, according to the agency&#x27;s own undercover testing.<p><a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;arstechnica.com&#x2F;tech-policy&#x2F;2015&#x2F;06&#x2F;us-airport-screeners-missed-95-of-weapons-explosives-in-undercover-tests&#x2F;" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;arstechnica.com&#x2F;tech-policy&#x2F;2015&#x2F;06&#x2F;us-airport-scree...</a><p>edit: I was a bit harsh, I don&#x27;t have any real issue with the people doing it an it&#x27;s probably untrue that most would be unemployed. What I really meant was that I find it strange that social programs are often questioned, but spending hundreds of billions on something not really necessary and creating jobs for it isn&#x27;t.

Recently at Stansted I had an encounter with a security staff member who was of the opinion that both clotted cream and butter were liquids. (Note, I wasn&#x27;t the one trying to get either of these onto the plane.) Her entire argument seemed to rest on the case that they were spreadable. I don&#x27;t think she did well in GCSE physics.

While flying itself is quite fun - nothing beats finding weird tchotchkes in the duty free shop - thinking about airport security gives me existential dread.<p>I think it is great that British airports are relaxing their rules, but until that applies to the whole world, I will still arrive 2-3 hours before departure, knowing how unpredictable the situation at some airport security checkpoint can be.<p>It is almost as if the whole point is to discourage us to fly. It is great if you live in a country with access to high speed trains. Surely beats walking around in your socks or people with no empathy going through your luggage.

The Helsinki airport eliminated the liquid rule last year. It also applies to electronics, they can stay in the bag. And of course shoes stay on (European airports never did this particular bit of post-9&#x2F;11 security theatre).<p>After experiencing how easy it can be, traveling from the US feels like a special hell with the multi-stage papers checks and endless lines and shoeless security dances.

In Berlin at BER I had someone from security straight up tell me that water being sold at a premium after security, with a profit for the airport shops that pay hefty rents, is the only reason for keeping up the 100ml liquids rule. That was a heated discussion point for a while, since the airport had to stop people from drinking tap water inside because of an e.coli infestation in the water system of the airport.<p>We&#x27;re talking about the worst joke of an airport in the world, after all.

UK could save a ton of time if they just better implemented One Stop Security. Heathrow wastes a massive amount of time by rescreening cabin luggage that was already screened in Europe&#x2F;US&#x2F;Canada.<p>And this isn’t a Brexit thing.<p>I’ve avoided transiting through Heathrow because of this silliness. Especially as they won’t let you bring big contact lens in your carryon while US&#x2F;Canada does. Not cool to have it seized mid-journey despite staying airside.

I don&#x27;t know what kind of new scanner technology they have, but I noticed at Louis Armstrong International (MSY) they&#x27;ve dispensed with making you take your shoes off or pull your laptop out to be scanned separately. I hope they keep finding ways around this security theater malarkey.

One of the few great benefits of going through Ben Gurion Airport in TelAviv is that due to their alternative approach to security (and profiling) noone gives a damn about your liquids. Want to go through the scanner holding a super gulp with a bag full of liquids? Go right ahead.

I think Helsinki Airport has them. I had spray can of deodorant that i was able to take to Germany but on on way back it was deemed too dangerous.<p>Thou the new scanners didn&#x27;t like my 3 stacked card decks or the 2 of 250ml &quot;milkshakes&quot;.<p>Funny that the milkshakes needed to be drug tested while my 500mil smoothie was totally fine.

It&#x27;s all useless security theater anyway, people travelled even without these stupid rules, and it still doesn&#x27;t stop bad players - they just invent new ways.

In Japan for domestic flights, they have some sort of a sniffer machine they put your liquids on for testing, so flying with them is fine.<p>When I flew through Beijing and had forgotten a can of beer in my backpack (&lt;3 Julebryg), it was flagged on the X-ray, and when they guy found it, saw &quot;it was just a can of beer&quot;, he gave it back to me. I guess that works too.

In Tel Aviv they had very strict airport security measures: opening the suitcase and passing chemical papers several times, asking lots of questions, etc. The 1 liter bottle of water, you can pass that no problem. Maybe they already have these scanners?

So... Just because they are able to see more about what is in my bag I am able to carry more liquid? Can&#x27;t I just show it to them and just bring it there now?

There&#x27;s a photo of the new 3d scanners here (they remind me of a jet engine).<p><a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.finavia.fi&#x2F;en&#x2F;newsroom&#x2F;2022&#x2F;new-technology-makes-it-even-more-convenient-start-your-journey-renewed-helsinki" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.finavia.fi&#x2F;en&#x2F;newsroom&#x2F;2022&#x2F;new-technology-makes...</a>

A picture would have been worth a thousand words in this article.

Had a horrible experience at LTN once with one particular security staff. From the very beginning the lady doing the luggage inspection was being rude and patronising to me and to others.<p>When inspecting my luggage she pulled out every single item from my backpack with a glowing look of satisfaction on her face. She checked every single pouch for God knows what. I have never witnessed anything like it before.<p>When she got to the liquid bag I politely challenged her on the liquid policy which she could not properly explain in her broken English. She then took things personally and became agitated, verbally aggressive and retorted to phrases like: Is this your first time flying? What is your problem??<p>Her boss was called and he took 5 minutes of his time to explain things calmly and politely. Apparently gels like vapour rub or hair wax are considered liquids. We joked about butter also being a liquid since it&#x27;s _spreadable_. All was good and I decided to head back to the front desk to have my luggage checked-in instead (liquids were over the allowance indeed).<p>But the lady I mentioned was high on her power trip and completely ignored my requests to hand back my ID, credit cards, phone, and backpack which were on a tray in her possession (behind the plexiglass screen). I asked twice and she just smirked and ignored it. Her boss also asked a couple of times until the penny finally dropped.<p>I&#x27;ve been at this airport many times before and have never experienced anything like this before. It&#x27;s a horrendous abuse of power and overreach. Security inspection staff should not withhold or deposes people of their legal documents or belongings. It&#x27;s degrading and abusive.

Wonder if anyone knows or can speculate how these work?<p>I stole a glance at the screen when my bag passed through one of these--looked like CT. The user can examine and freely rotate a transparent model of what&#x27;s in the bag.<p>I always wondered if you could use different energy X-rays to attempt to analyze what things being examined are made of.

These will nuke unexposed and undeveloped exposed film. Kodak put a warning out a year or 2 back

I recently went through Eindhoven airport in the Netherlands and it blew my mind that I could bring water with me, and the security guy didn&#x27;t even open my backpack, he just rotated and zoomed around a &quot;hologram&quot; of it in 3D on a computer.

If you are flying with undeveloped film, ask that it not be sent through the scanner.

First time I&#x27;ve seen a hint at why liquids were banned besides vague references to explosives: British police said they had foiled a plot to blow up as many as 10 planes using explosives hidden in drinks.

Oh man, this is excellent news. Wrestling with my 16-inch laptop out of my overpacked rucksack, then trying to cram it back in again when you&#x27;re cutting it fine already is a pain

Rome Fiumicino Airport has these scanners since 1y or so. Very handy, the queue is almost non existent.

Is London City a busy airport?

Hopefully the rest of post-9&#x2F;11 idiocy can be rolled back as well, at least outside the US.

Say goodbye to ever photographing anything abroad on film again.