USA TODAY International Edition
Fliers in Europe soon can tote duty- free booze
Liquid restrictions ease up in January
Airline passengers in Europe will soon take a step toward bringing larger bottles from duty- free shops with them in carry- on luggage.
Restrictions in Europe and the USA limit passengers to carrying liquids in 3.4- ounce containers in the cabin because of the threat of explosives. The European policy change in January is modest, applying basically to travelers connecting on flights at an airport while carrying a bottle of liquor or perfume from a duty- free shop.
If security officials become confident that the change doesn’t open the door to explosives, the European Commission goal eventually is to allow all passengers to keep all sizes of liquids, aerosols and gels with them.
“This should lead to a complete lifting of restrictions in 2016,” said Dale Kidd, a European Commission spokesman. “The operational impact of this first phase will be carefully evaluated and pave the way for further steps expanding the types of liquids, aerosols and gels that passengers will be able to bring with them in cabin baggage.”
In the USA, the Transportation Security Administration is monitoring the experiment. John Halinski, deputy administrator of the TSA, said he would like to end the liquid restrictions “sooner rather than later” to focus on more serious threats, because more than half the time passengers are simply carrying water bottles.
“I would like to, in the near future, be able to have people leave liquids in their bag,” Halinski said. “We’ve been working with industry, and we think in a very short time, we’ll be able to crack that nut.”
First, security officials must confirm that scanning machines catch explosives efficiently without giving off too many false alarms. The problem with liquid screening is too many false- positive results, which would gum up checkpoint lines.
But the machines have improved during the past decade. Manufacturers say the tests are brisk and reliable.
“Little delay has been indicated,” said Wesley Pirkle, senior research scientist for Battelle, a Columbus, Ohio, non- profit charitable trust that makes one of the liquid scanners. “Hopefully, you’re going to be subtracting some time,” Pirkle said about delays from passengers who forget liquids in their bags.
A single can or bottle can be screened by Battelle’s machine in a few seconds with a false- alarm rate in “the low single digits,” Pirkle said.
Restrictions against carry- on liquids date to August 2006, when British authorities foiled a plot to destroy an airliner with liquid explosives. A month after a ban was created for liquids in carry- ons, the TSA allowed as many 3.4- ounce containers as fit in a clear 1- quart plastic bag in carry- on baggage.
The restriction remains contentious. About one in eight leisure travelers cited restrictions on liquids as the most frustrating part of screening, according to a 2012 survey by the International Air Transport Association. One in four travelers acknowledged smuggling restricted- size liquids through security, according to a 2011 survey by the travel- search site Skyscanner. com.
Brandon Macsata, executive director of the Association for Airline Passenger Rights, said the restrictions always seemed like a TSA overreaction because passengers could buy drinks after the checkpoints to bring on planes. He said passengers would welcome keeping their drinks and having toiletries in their carry- ons.
“I think you would find a huge appetite here in the United States for that,” Macsata said.
Starting Jan. 31, passengers connecting through European airports will be able to carry duty- free bottles from other countries through checkpoints in special plastic bags called STEB, for security tamper- evident bags.
“So far, these had to be confiscated,” said Kidd, the European Commission spokesman.