The summer could see confusion about security rules at the UK’s airports which are reportedly set to miss a deadline for installing new scanner technology.
Operators have until June to introduce advanced CT scanners which would enable the 100ml rule to be scrapped so passengers can take up to two litres through security.
It would also eventually mean that people would not have to remove laptops and tablets from their cabin bags.
But delays to the introduction of this technology at Heathrow, Gatwick, Stansted and Manchester airports are “almost inevitable”, sources told The Times.
They said: “It’s going to be a struggle for the big airports. One of the biggest issues they face is fitting the new scanners and retraining staff without impacting the flow of passengers.”
Heathrow has already told the Civil Aviation Authority the changes will be “difficult to deliver” in time, according to the source.
The major airport, which has 146 security lanes, reportedly does not expect to complete the project until 2025.
But a spokesperson said it was spending £1 billion on the upgrades and was working “as quickly as practically possible”.
Gatwick operators think it will have made “significant progress” by June, but will also not have finished what it called the “major logistical operation” until 2025.
The Manchester Airports Group, which includes Stansted, said: “We continue to make good progress at our airports on the introduction of new security screening equipment, as part of the UK-wide programme.
“This is a complex programme of work requiring the expansion of terminal facilities, while at the same time maintaining operations during construction. We are rolling out the new technology lane by lane at Manchester and London Stansted airports, with several new lanes already in operation.”
The Department of Transport's plan to lift the liquid ban, revealed last winter, will be the biggest change in aviation security in the past two decades.
