According to a bulletin from Airports Council International World, there has been a change in European Commission regulations concerning the security restrictions on passengers carrying liquids, aerosols and gels.
Effective April 29, the EC will allow travelers to carry LAGs that have been purchased at airports outside the European Union or on airlines flying to airports in the EU if the purchases are sealed in an ICAO-specification Security Tamper Evident Bag with proof of purchase within 36 hours.
Some of the LAGs will be subject to screening using Liquid Explosive Detection Systems. In such instances, all packaging will be required to be removed, and some bottles may need to be opened to allow the contents to be analyzed. These new guidelines mean connection times of passengers are likely to increase at transfer airports.
According to ACI World, only a few EU Member States have agreed to implement the change; many have decided to apply more stringent measures, meaning they will not adopt the new relaxed restriction; and several are unlikely to make the change at this time but may do so later.
“ACI World is concerned that the situation in the EU could remain very confused for a period of time after 29 April 2011. There is a risk, therefore, that if non-EU airports, retailers or airlines advertise this change in EC Regulation and encourage passengers transferring through airports in Europe to purchase travel retail LAGs, then these items could still be confiscated from passengers at the EU transfer airport. Clearly, this would lead to increased passenger dissatisfaction and frustration, as well as create problems for the EU airports, which would have to handle the disgruntled passengers,” ACI World says in a statement.
ACI World recommends that airports and retailers outside the EU not advertise the change in regulations, and says they should continue to advise passengers who will be transferring at EU airports not to purchase travel retail LAGs.
“The only exception would be passengers traveling on flights to the EU from Canada, Croatia, Malaysia, Singapore and the United States of America, who are covered under bilateral agreements permitting them to carry LAGs through transfer screening points at EU airports,” the statement continues.
The organization also says two regional travel retail associations – the European Travel Retail Council and the Asia Pacific Travel Retail Association have advised their members not to adopt the changes, nor to “advertise the change in regulation to passengers or to sell travel retail LAGs to passengers transferring through EU airports, until further notice,” the statement says.
