The Airport Operators Association (AOA) has announced that it is lobbying the government to try and ensure that the ban on liquids in hand luggage is not lifted.
The AOA has said that new scanner technology, designed to detect explosives in liquid, is “not mature enough”.
Since discovery of a liquid-bomb plot in 2006, passengers have been limited to taking liquids, aerosols and gels in carry-on containers no bigger than 100ml. The new scanners could see the ban lifted in 2013.
“The technology is not mature enough. There are too many false alarms. There are problems with flow rates. There is a problem with different rules for different passengers,” said Darren Caplan, AOA chief executive.
“There has been testing across Europe since last year, at 14 airports including Heathrow, and it is clear there are the same problems as a year ago.”
Although the European Commission (EC) relaxed these rules in April 2011, for transfer passengers from outside the EU, the UK government retracted its support for the scheme over fears that it may present a security risk.
The AOA has written to Transport Secretary Justine Greening, to voice its disapproval of the ban’s removal. It argued that lifting the ban would lead to queues at airports growing longer, and “risk confusing passengers”.
However, The Department for Transport (DfT) has said that it intends to lift the restrictions in 2013, after approving the new generation of airport security scanners.
Retaining the ban has been described as “politically unacceptable” by Siim Kallas, European transport commissioner. But for the AOA, the reasons behind the removal aren’t passenger focused.
“We are concerned that this April 2013 date is more about an arbitrary deadline set by the European Parliament, rather than providing better security for passengers,” added Mr Caplan.
“We urge the Department for Transport to begin lobbying colleagues in Europe to prevent these problems now, rather than wait until the last minute to advocate this position, as happened in 2011.”
