Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane will complete their rollout of new ‘computed tomography’ (CT) scanners by the end of 2025, in line with the Federal Government’s mandated airport security requirements.
The advanced carry-on bag screening equipment, which generate a 3D image that can be viewed and rotated on three axes, is already in place at Perth, Adelaide, Canberra and Darwin, allowing laptops, liquids and gels to remain tucked away in your carry-on bag.
Melbourne Airport currently has the time- and hassle-saving scanners installed in all terminals excluding the T1 Qantas domestic facility, with an airport spokesperson telling Executive Traveller it’s now working on that timeline with Qantas.
Sydney Airport has 3D scanners in its own T3 Qantas domestic terminal, and they’ve recently been added to many but not all lanes at the T1 international terminal.
The rest of Sydney T1 will steadily follow, along with the domestic T2 terminal used by Virgin Australia, Rex, Jetstar and other domestic airlines.
Brisbane is also on track to upgrade all baggage scanners “by 2025” to meet the Government’s 31 December 2025 deadline.
However, the Australian Government says it has no plans to scrap or increase the current limit of 100ml/100mg limit on liquids, alcohols and gels on international flights.
Liquids limit raised to 2 litres
It’s a different scene in the UK, where airports are racing to meet a Government deadline requiring outdated security scanners be replaced with modern 3D versions by June 2024.
London City Airport – the first major hub in the UK to complete the upgrade, in April – now permits passengers to bring up to two litres of drinks, perfumes, beauty products and the like in their cabin bags.
CT scanners have also been installed or trialled in select passenger security lanes at London’s Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted airports, although the standard LAG limits remain in place.
But that’s set to change by the middle of next year, when British Transport Secretary Mark Harper says travellers can wave goodbye to “the tiny toiletry (which) has become a staple of airport security checkpoints.”
Passengers will be able to carry containers with up to 2 litres of fluid, doing away with the 100ml mini-bottle and the ritual of discarding larger volumes of liquid, however valuable.
The UK isn’t the first country to introduce the new technology: hubs including Amsterdam Schiphol and Helsinki, as well as several in the US, already have CT baggage scanners.
Source: https://www.executivetraveller.com/news/australian-airport-3d-ct-bag-scanning
