Change to 100ml hand luggage rules blamed for chaos at Birmingham Airport

The boss of one of Britain’s busiest airports has blamed long queues on a temporary 100ml liquid hand luggage restriction – despite the change being in place since March.

Many disgruntled passengers have complained about long waits at Birmingham Airport this month, with a doctor claiming to have treated two people for hypothermia last week after they were forced to wait outside the terminal.

Other passengers claimed they missed flights due to long waits at airport security.

Emirates, Qatar Airways and Turkish Airlines all use the airport. Other airlines, including Jet2, also fly to Middle Eastern destinations from Birmingham.

The terminal met a government deadline to install high-tech screening machines, meaning passengers would no longer have to comply with a 100ml limit on liquids, aerosols and gels in their hand luggage.

However, it was forced to re-introduce the 100ml rule in March due to outstanding regulatory approval, leading to regular queues outside the building.

Over the weekend, the airport warned it was one of several where the 100ml directive was reinstated on Sunday. The others included Newcastle, Leeds Bradford, London City, Aberdeen, Southend and Teesside.

Other airports have also warned of the effect of the change. “The 100ml restrictions on liquids will be temporarily reinstated. However, passengers departing from London City can still keep everything (all liquids and large electronics) in their bags when going through security,” London City wrote on X.

Birmingham Airport said: “A new government directive has been issued nationwide across all ports. This new directive means that the containers that passengers carry in their hand luggage when leaving Birmingham Airport cannot hold more than 100ml in liquids, pastes and gels until further notice.

“This is a rule that Birmingham Airport has been complying with for months thanks to exceptional regulatory approval for its new screening machines.”

Nick Barton, chief executive of Birmingham Airport, said passengers’ failure to comply was to blame for the queues.

“The rules we’ve been following since March are now very clear in that only liquids, pastes and gels up to 100ml can be carried in hand luggage,” he said.

“Since opening our new security area and despite being one of the first airports in the UK to comply, we have been limited in the use of our multi-million pound equipment due to an exceptional regulatory restriction , which means we had to limit liquids to 100ml. This rule has now been implemented nationwide.

“Although the 100ml rule is still in place, we constantly have non-compliant bags with liquids over the allowance, which has made our equipment inefficient and resulted in extended waiting times for customers.”

However, some disputed the claim on social media, saying construction work to create a new security zone was the cause of the delays.

“The ridiculous queues at Birmingham airport are nothing to do with the liquid rule – due to ongoing renovations the escalators to security are not working and only 2 lifts are working to get you to security. What an airport joke,” wrote a passenger on X.

Another person wrote that he saw passengers “desperately sipping two liters of Coke”, despite the fact that the baggage rule had been in place for more than 15 years.

The airport previously said the 100ml rule would remain in place “until further notice”, although liquids no longer need to be placed in a plastic bag and can be left in hand luggage.

He added: “The airport has invested £60 million in its new enhanced security area. This area is purpose-built with simpler and more streamlined equipment and will future-proof Birmingham Airport from the current 12 million passengers per year in 2024 to accommodate 18 million passengers per year by 2033.”

Mr Barton said a “non-compliant bag” can add up to 20 minutes to each passenger’s journey through security and it is “imperative” that all customers comply with the rule.

The Department for Transport said the restrictions were reinstated to allow for further improvements to the systems, not in response to a specific threat.

Transportation Secretary Mark Harper said BBC Breakfast the reintroduction of restrictions was to allow “modifications” to be made to the scanning equipment.

“It is a temporary measure and we will determine when this can be reversed in due course,” he said.

Updated: June 10, 2024, 10:35 am