London City Airport BA City Aircrafts

Huge: 100ml Liquid Rule Be Gone in London City Airport

Yes you read that right, 100ml Liquid Rule Be Gone in London City Airport!

One of the stressful aspect of the airport journey (besides almost missing your flight ) is perhaps the security part. The 100ml rule was simply a massive kerfuffle for most passengers.  Worse still was having to all fit in a tiny plastic bag that wasn’t designed for people with specific needs. 

There was always the fear that your bag would somehow get flagged anyway, and having to unload everything and repack, it just was never was meant to be a pleasant experience! More than anything this just slowed everyone down. Therefore this news is without a doubt a giant travel game changer!

How It Will Work Going Forward

As part of other wider investments, London City airport has bought in the latest security tech.

Thanks to new state of the art CT scanning technology travellers no longer have to take out their liquids, phones and tablets out of their carry on bags and can now even carry liquids up to 2L!

Similar to scanning machines in hospitals, contents will be more easily detectable and distinguishable with the scanners have upgraded  from 2D to 3D imaging. As a result our airport journeys should get much quicker and smoother for everyone.

For once, you can now just carry a water bottle without fear of having to ditch it and pay for an overpriced bottle in airside. Coming to think of it the whole notion of this always seemed rather scandalous!

The Timing of Introduction & Scrapping

100ml Liquid Rule Be Gone in London City Airport. Boarding Swiss Aircraft
London City Airport Boarding Swiss

The arcane 100ml has been in place in UK and various other countries since 2006, introduced in response to unfoiled terror attacks with liquid explosives. The scrap has been in affect at London City airport as of April 4th.

Trials of the technology has been under way in Heathrow T3 and Gatwick and Birmingham airport. While some airports in US (not so in my recent trip out of ORD) and Amsterdam have already rolled this out.

Lucky Easter travellers out of London City were able to enjoy this reprieve which must have been a relief.

When Its coming to Other airport

The government announced the changes back in December and the Transport Secretary stated the plan is for most major UK airport to have this technology and rule change by summer of 2024.

Crucially the change in law is already now in affect for the entire UK, it is simply a matter of how fast each airport is able to roll out the technology.

Other Implications

After over a decade of being conditioned to travel with the 100ml restrictions has meat that a whole new segment of the beauty industry flourished in being able to produce miniatures and over-charge for the privilege.

Miniature toiletries also no doubt can create unnecessary amounts of plastic waste. So this will not doubt be a net positive on environmental impact of travel.

Overall Thoughts

I am absolutely delighted by this news and only hope Heathrow follows through very soon! The 100ml rule has always been one of my biggest gripes about the airport experience. If you ever got caught out by forgetting a small liquid item somewhere in your bag, the stress of waiting around ages for checks then unpacking/packing is something I’ve always loathed. Even with priority security lanes this was sometimes still slow!

I wear contact lenses and always like to carry enough supplies with me including having solutions but it’s very easy to fill the small clear bags with just those and a deodorant and sun cream. Never mind that I like to carry my favourite miniature shower gels and shampoos in case the hotel I’m staying at doesn’t have nice ones.

Now suddenly our travel life will involve much less hassle, provided you still mindful and aware of banned carry on items which still stay intact!