Europe’s busiest airport has just officially scrapped the 100ml liquid rule

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Besides passport control, security checkpoints are probably the main reason why airports are so stressful to navigateespecially those with ultra strict scanning and unfriendly staff.

We’ve all been there:

Your flight leaves in less than an hour, there’s a snaking line at security, and everyone in front of you seems to be taking the time to get out their toiletries, picking out containers that are way over the liquid limit that they know will be thrown away anyway, and just being absolute slowpokes about it.

It cost us 20 years to get to this point, but it seems like the good old days of just whizzing past the CT scanners, with nothing but a quick nod of affirmation to the man responsible, are making a comeback.

We’re not sure if overly cautious airports like Charles de Gaulle and Madrid Barajas got the memo, but Europe’s busiest airport, and the one that started this nightmare in the first place, is officially emergency landing the 100 ml liquid rules:

No more liquid limits at London Heathrow

There is no beating around the bush, At Britain’s largest airport, Heathrow (LHR), travelers can now leave liquids in containers of up to two litres in their suitcases as they pass through security checkpoints.

London’s main airport, Heathrow, is the busiest airport in Great Britain 84 million passengers annually. It seems like everyone wants to go to London these days, and listen, we get it: there’s something about afternoon tea and double-decker bus rides that just speaks to your soul.

It’s no wonder that Heathrow competes toe-to-toe with Paris’s Charles de Gaulle in Europe, while ranking as the 10th most visited airport worldwide. In other words, this is big news for travelers.

Even if you’re not traveling directly to Britain, given Heathrow’s global reputation as a transit hub, chances are you’ll land in one of its bustling terminals at some point, even if just for a quick stopover.

So why this change of heart, and how will Heathrow ensure air travel security remains tight, especially amid rising global tensions?

Behold Heathrow’s new state-of-the-art CT scanners

A few years ago we reported that Britain as a whole wanted to scrap the 100ml liquid limit.

While some small airports have already been successfully transformed for one reason or another, Heathrow is yet to complete the rollout of new, revolutionary CT scanners so powerful and thorough they can probably see right into your soul.

Well folks, we’re happy to report that the UK rollout is almost complete, and in any case, Heathrow has now gone completely high-tech and not only have liquid limits been significantly increased, but even electronics can also be left in the luggage.

This means you no longer have to waste several long, precious minutes packing and unpacking while browsing the duty-free shops or stopping by Wagamama’s for a quick sushi stop before boarding your flight.

In summary:

• Liquids in containers of up to 2 litres are now allowed; the 100 ml rule has been completely deleted
• Liquids also do not need to be placed in clear plastic bags
• Laptops, iPads, smartphones and watches and other electronic devices do not need to be placed in a separate drawer when you go through security

What can we say?

The era of arbitrary seizures is over, and you can be sure that the uniformed, grumpy-looking, big-no-reason Mark keeping watch over the reels is not at all happy about this development.

We trust in science

The new CT scanners are absolute game changers when it comes to airport management.

Unlike the typical, manually performed 2D X-rays we were previously used to, these babies generate detailed 3D images by rotating X-ray sources around bags. Like, you know, your usual medical CT, with exactly the same precision.

If they can find elusive tumors lurking behind vital organs, they can certainly recognize funky fabrics when programmed for this.

In addition to Heathrow, other British airports have adopted the new technology and emerged from a two-decade liquidity crisis: these include London’s second busiest airport, Gatwick (LGW), Edinburgh Airport (EDI), which serves Scotland’s capital, and Birmingham (BHX).

Bristol (BRS) and both Belfast airports, Belfast International (BFS) and Belfast City Airport (BHD) have also moved to lift liquid restrictions.

Even if they haven’t fully implemented the change, most UK airports already allow travelers to keep liquid containers of up to 100ml in their luggage.

Officials at Heathrow have done so declared the scanners could be used ‘thousands of passengers per hour with significantly greater efficiency‘, without lowering safety standards. We’re not experts in CT scans ourselves, so we’ll leave it to the big brains in the room, but hey, we trust science.

This time.

Other European airports that have lifted the liquid limit

• Berlin Brandenburg (BER)-fully implemented
• Frankfurt (FRA)-multiple checkpoints
• Munich (MUC)-partially implemented, currently expanding
• Rome Fiumicino (FCO)– fully implemented, although temporary suspensions have been reported
• Milan Malpensa (MXP)– fully implemented, although temporary suspensions have been reported
• Milan Linate (LIN)– fully implemented, although temporary suspensions have been reported
• Zurich (ZHR)– currently implementing

Amsterdam Schiphol (AMS) had temporarily lifted the liquid rules, but they were reintroduced on September 1, 2024 due to regulatory issues.

For the time being, you must still respect the 100ml limit when traveling to and from Amsterdam, but removing containers from your bag is not required.

Vinicius Costa

Vini, our senior head writer at Travel Off Path, has over 60 countries to his name (and is currently weaving stories from Paris!), and a knack for turning off-the-beaten-path experiences into informative stories that will have you packing your bags.