If you are planning to travel within the European Union, you need to meet some new people regulations implemented at airports in the EU from today 1 September 2024. The changes are related to our luggage and the liquids we carry inside the plane.
Hand luggage
The new EU regulations will impose uniformity on all European airlines, which means that passengers can now expect standardized baggage sizes and weights.
Each piece of hand luggage must not exceed 10kg and each person is allowed 1 piece of hand luggage and 1 small personal item such as a handbag, backpack or laptop bag.
The maximum dimensions (including handles and wheels) are set at 55 x 40 x 20cm, while personal items must be 40 x 30 x 15cm.
Liquids
Until now travelers passing through airports equipped with explosives detection systems for hand luggage could carry liquids in amounts greater than 100ml. This exemption is being lifted until all European airports have the same explosive screening device.
Liquids carried in hand luggage, such as aerosols, drinks, toothpaste, cosmetic creams or gels, must be placed in a transparent plastic bag with a maximum capacity of 1 liter, and no individual package exceeding 100 ml. Liquid packages with a capacity of more than 100 ml must be placed in checked baggage. Quantitative restrictions do not apply to medicines and baby food.
What happened to EU scanners
Passengers around the world are used to a strict 100ml limit on liquids, creams and gels, which must be placed in a clear plastic bag.
But new scanners at some airports that use CT scanning technology should theoretically allow larger volumes of liquid to be accepted on flights, and laptops will remain in passengers’ bags which cannot be removed from the backpack to be screened.
Some EU airports, such as those in Rome and Amsterdam, have already installed these scanning machines and relaxed their rules. Most have not yet done so, while in others the new technology is being used on a trial basis.
The European section of the Airports Council International (ACI) estimates that around 350 of these scanning machines are currently in use in 13 EU countries, including Germany, Ireland, Italy, Lithuania, Malta, the Netherlands and Sweden. . However, the EU has reinstated the 100ml limit to address a technical issue with the new equipment, although it has not yet said what exactly the issue is, according to the BBC.
Reports say the scanners are inaccurate for some liquid containers packed in bags.
In July, ACI Europe criticized the ban as a “failure for the passenger experience and a blow to the vital investment made by airports”.
Its general manager, Olivier Jankovec, said security was the top priority, but added that those “who adopt this new technology early will be severely penalized operationally and financially”.
In addition, he argued that restricting their use “questions the trust and confidence that the industry can have in the current EU certification system for aviation safety equipment”.
Because the rules have changed again
The European Commission announced at the end of July that the maximum size allowed for individual liquid containers will be returned to 100ml. There is no date for when the rules will be relaxed again, according to the BBC.
The commission said it was not “a response to any new threat but addresses a temporary technical issue” with the new generation of scanners.
It said it was taking steps “in coordination with the EU’s international partners” and that “quick technical solutions” would be developed.
The UK government previously announced that the systems were in need of repair after the new information was released.
However, it also did not provide an end date for the 100ml limit, so it is unclear how long the measure will last.