Can Water Bottles be Kept in Our Hand Luggage?

Can Water Bottles be Kept in Our Hand Luggage?

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Two new screening systems that will allow passengers to leave liquids and laptops in their hand luggage when passing through airport security has been tested by Amsterdam Schiphol airport.

New software in the scanning devices will give security staff a 360 degree view of the contents of each bag being screened, allowing them to more closely inspect them for prohibited items, according to the Schiphol Group website.

The project will take place in two security lanes in the departure halls where transfer passengers are checked. Passengers will be notified of the trials before their baggage is screened, notes Amsterdam Schiphol.

All will still have to put their liquids and gels in a resealable, plastic bag with a volume of not more than one litre, with none of the containers in the bag holding more than 100 ml. However, in the specific lane where the pilot project is being carried out, passengers will receive a separate instruction: the one litre bag with liquids and gels may remain in their bag.

The airport sources say “another purpose of the pilot project is to find out whether the screening process can be made simpler and faster for passengers”.

“If everything goes according to plan and the pilot project is completed successfully, Schiphol will gradually introduce these new and innovative hand baggage scanning devices in all 67 security lanes”. “We expect to see this process finished in late 2017.”

The airport is certainly a pioneer in the creation of new, more customer friendly security areas, and claims to be “working continuously to improve the security process, with the aim of making the security check more pleasant and more comfortable for passengers and ensuring a safe and efficient security process at the airport”.

The pilot project is run in conjunction with the National Coordinator for Security and Counterterrorism and KLM. This collaboration over the past few years has, among other things, resulted in the introduction of the very first security scan for passengers, crew and staff and the new security lane in 2015.