Passengers preparing to fly from UK airports should assume the 100ml liquids rule remains in place unless they have been told otherwise by their airport, Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander said.
Edinburgh and Birmingham airports have become the latest to allow passengers to keep liquids in their bags when going through security, and each liquid container can be up to two litres.
Large electricals, such as tablets and laptops, can also remain in bags.
This is because of CT scanners which generate more detailed images of what is inside luggage.
Airport security rules over liquids were implemented in 2006 following a foiled terror plot to blow up planes flying from London to the US with homemade liquid bombs.
This involved liquids being up to 100ml and put in clear plastic bags.
Travellers failing to adhere to the rule is one of the biggest causes of delays at airport security.
Ms Alexander told Times Radio: “The rollout of this new technology, the new scanning technology, has been overseen by the individual airports themselves.
“They have different contracts in place, different providers.
“We have a situation in Edinburgh and Birmingham where they’ve got the new technology in place now and so are allowing people who are travelling to take liquids in containers up to two litres through with them.
“At all other airports the 100ml rule stays in place.
“From my perspective, if we can give some flexibility to passengers that are travelling from airports where the technology is in place, I think it would be wrong to insist that everyone should travel with the 100ml.”
She added: “You should work on the basis that it is 100ml at the moment unless you have heard from your airport otherwise.
“And I always advise people to check in with their airlines and their airports before travelling.
“And I’m hopeful that we get to a point where all airports have this new technology in place soon so that everyone can have that extra added flexibility when they’re travelling.”
A deadline of December 2022 for most major airports to deploy new scanners was initially set in August 2019 by then-prime minister Boris Johnson.
After the aviation industry suffered huge disruption due to coronavirus travel restrictions, in December 2022 then-transport secretary Mark Harper set a new date of June 1 2024.
Several airports struggling to meet the deadline – largely because of supply chain delays – were granted extensions in April last year.
Two months later, the 100ml limit was reimposed at airports that were complaint because of concerns about how the machines were working.
Several airports such as Gatwick, London City, Luton and Teesside allow passengers to keep liquids in bags, but only in containers holding up to 100ml each.
Birmingham installed its new scanners last summer, but retained the 100ml liquids rule until regulatory approval was granted.
Heathrow, the UK’s busiest airport, said the vast majority of its passengers are using new security lanes, and it is working with the Government to complete the rollout.
It advises passengers to prepare for the 100ml rule to be in place for their flight.
A Birmingham airport spokesperson said: “This change will enable a faster and more efficient processing of hand luggage, following the £60 million investment in equipment and infrastructure made last year.
“We are pleased passengers can now benefit from this change in ruling, made by the Government in time for the summer peak.”
Gordon Dewar, chief executive of Edinburgh airport, said: “A whole generation of travellers have only known the 100ml rule to be the case, so it really is a momentous day as we become the first airport in Scotland to lift the rule since it was introduced in 2006.
“The change allows more flexibility for passengers to take liquids through security, all while maintaining and improving our high safety levels through the use of 3D technology.”
