UK Airport Endures Chaos and Extra Cost After Liquid Rule Change

Birmingham Airport spent £60 million ($76.1 million) to accommodate state-of-the-art baggage scanners meant to speed security screening by doing away with strict liquid rules. Now unforeseen government restrictions, alongside yet-to-be completed construction work, are creating the kind of bottlenecks that the new equipment was supposed to overcome.

The UK Department for Transport said earlier this month that it would temporarily reinforce the 100-milliliter carry-on rule nationwide to “enable further improvements” to the next-generation systems. The about-face, on top of ongoing construction work in the terminal, has resulted in passengers suffering through long waiting times during peak hours to get through security. The airport estimates it removes 1.5 tons of liquids every day from hand luggage to ensure passengers comply with the rules.