Long-standing UK airport departure lounge rule scrapped 'with little notice'

UK holidaymakers and airline pasengers have been warned over a departure lounge rule change "with little notice". The government has sparked chaos with the rollout of new scanners at security, which mean holidaymakers don't need to follow a 100ml limit.

But some airports haven't been ready to roll out the new tech on June 1, impacting holidaymakers. Karen Dee, chief executive of the Airport Operators Association, said: "These latest changes announced on Friday, instigated with very little notice, have created uncertainty for passengers just as airports enter their busiest periods of the year.

"It has also put airport operators in a challenging position, with very limited time to prepare for the additional staffing and wider resources that this will require, and no clear idea of when this issue will be resolved."

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The Department for Transport then responded in a statement, saying: "The temporary reintroduction of the 100ml liquid restriction at some airports is to allow time to further improve systems. It only affects those travelling from six regional airports where next generation security checkpoints (NGSC) were already in full operation around 6 per cent of all UK air passengers.

"For most passengers, security measures will remain unchanged from those in place since 2006." They advised: "Passengers should continue to check security requirements with their departure airport before travelling."

Heathrow, Gatwick, and Manchester failed to meet the June 1 deadline. But other airports - like London City, Teesside, Newcastle, Leeds-Bradford, Aberdeen, and Southend - managed to meet the government mandate.

In Birmingham, pictures have shown lengthy queues at the airport as holidaymakers jetting off for a summer holiday were hit by travel and flight chaos and disruption. The DfT explained: "This temporary move is to enable further improvements to be made to the new checkpoint systems and will only affect a small number of passengers."