Liquids, creams and gels may be banned from hand luggage on European flights under new rules being discussed by EU countries in the aftermath of last month's foiled London bomb plot, sources familiar with the talks said.
BRUSSELS: Liquids, creams and gels may be banned from hand luggage on European flights under new rules being discussed by EU countries in the aftermath of last month's foiled London bomb plot, sources familiar with the talks said.
They said the new rules could severely limit the size of carry-on bags and prohibit passengers from carrying items such as toothpaste and hand lotion throughout the European Union.
Security experts from the EU's 25 member states met in Brussels this week to discuss potential changes, and another meeting is scheduled for September 6-7.
Member states are thinking of banning all liquids on board... for all flights, including gels and creams, said one source who was briefed on the meetings and asked not to be identified.
“They are strongly considering restricting the size of hand luggage below IATA (International Air Transport Association) standards,” the source said.
It could lead people to pack a lot into small bags, making them trickier to screen, the source said.
“It will create chaos in terms of waiting times. The screening will be more difficult.”
Another source said exceptions were being studied for duty-free items bought at airports that could be sold in sealed bags.
The European Commission declined to comment.
Airport screening is largely the same in mainland Europe as it was before August 10, when British police said they had foiled a plot by would-be suicide bombers to blow up as many as 10 US-bound airliners with liquid explosives.
Passengers at mainland European airports since then have said they were not required to remove their shoes or belts for screening -- often standard practice in the United States -- nor have they had to surrender water bottles and other liquids.
Airports including Frankfurt, Vienna, Athens and Madrid reported no new security measures since the discovery of the London plot, except for US- and UK-bound flights.
“We have not changed anything since then, except for flights to the United States,” said Robert Dusek, an investor relations official at Vienna's Flughafen Wien.
The air transport industry, keen to prevent expensive delays and a drop-off in passenger traffic like the one after the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States, wants potential changes to match any actual risk.
“Any measures that are put in place should be realistic, should be targeted, and above all should be manageable and sustainable,” said Stephen Hogan, spokesman for Brussels-based ACI Europe, a group that represents airports.
“New measures should be based on a risk assessment so that (they) are there to tackle a real threat, a threat that exists and not simply security measures for their own sake.”
The European Union is already working on ways to make air travel safer by collecting more extensive passenger information, using biometric passports, and employing technology for better detection of dangerous articles at checkpoints.
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