As laptop ban looms, European airports may loosen liquid limits

While travellers face the prospect of being forced to check in laptops and tablet computers, another airline security hassle might get eased. Europe’s airport operators are in talks with regulators to introduce security technology enabling passengers to bring larger liquid items in carry-on bags, according to the Airports Council International trade body. Systems to check for explosives without removing fluids from hand luggage are being tested at some locations in cooperation with the EU. The bid to loosen rules for carrying drinks and toiletries onto airliners highlights shifting industry concerns after US and UK authorities announced restrictions, starting Saturday, for consumer electronics aboard planes, reacting to unspecified security risks. The limits on liquid containers passengers date back to 2006, when terrorists attempted to blow up trans-Atlantic planes with home-made explosives. The EC “is doing a study working with manufacturers, and we’re going to run pilots at our airports, to help check the performance of the technology,” ACI Europe Director General Olivier Jankovec said Tuesday at a briefing in London. “The problem we have at the moment is that we don’t know that the screening technology for liquid explosives is up to the task of not impacting passenger throughput.”<br/>