News

Transport secretary Ruth Kelly is expected to announce today a relaxation of the one cabin-bag rule at UK airports in the new year.

The relaxation will be welcomed by passengers, airlines and travel management companies, who have complained bitterly about the impact on transfer and business traffic at Heathrow. However, it had been hoped the rules would be changed in time for Christmas.

The restriction has been in place since August 2006 following a high-level security alert at Heathrow when a plot to smuggle the liquid ingredients for explosives in hand luggage was uncovered.

It was introduced to reduce the queues at airport security, not as a security measure, in the belief it would halve the number of bags requiring scanning.

Today's announcement follows a trial of high-tech security scanners on the cabin baggage of some transfer passengers at Heathrow. It remains unclear whether the Government will lift the restriction wholesale or tie it to use of the new scanners at the busiest airports.

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