Airport ban on liquids set to end

New scanners can spot explosive fluids

The ban on liquids at British airports could be lifted within 18 months because of new X-ray scanners which can tell the difference between explosive fluids and duty-free booze.

Three months of trials of the new tomography scanner have just ended at Manchester Airport and the first of the £1m machines will go on sale before the end of the year.

They generate extremely high resolution 3D X-ray images of passenger luggage which can be turned in all directions on screen by operators to investigate the true shape of anything suspicious.

And by measuring the density of substances, they can quickly differentiate between what is harmless and what could blow up a plane.

At the moment, hold baggage is checked by CT scanners, similar to those used on hospital patients, with rotating drums which take images from all angles but can only handle 350 bags an hour.

The new RTT, developed by Surrey company Rapiscan Systems, will be able to scan up to 1,800 bags an hour.

In a deal with the airport, the company has been asking passengers to volunteer their bags to be tested by the prototype and they have scanned more than 10,000 over the last three months.

Ken Mann, Rapiscan's general manager, said: "We have taken seven years to get to this stage and we needed to try it out on real bags rather than our own dummies. The passengers have been very willing to try it out.

"We haven't found any explosives yet - but you would be surprised what we have found in people's luggage!

 "We should have them on sale within six months and you could see the end of the liquids ban at Britain's major airports within 18 months."

David Pendlebury, Manchester Airport's security manager said: "We have been testing it with hold baggage but I would really like to see it screening hand baggage too.

"We have been working with the DfT (Department for Transport) and because of its capabilities, I don't think it will be too long before we are back to where we started before the security crisis."

The curbs on carrying liquids came after an alleged terror plot to bring down as many as 10 planes travelling from the UK to the US was foiled in 2006.

www.rapiscanststems.com   www.manchesterairport.co.uk