Your hand luggage

Lawrence Jay writes:

When travelling to and from an EU country, we now find that there are EU restrictions, which came in force in November 2006, that each person could only carry one piece of hand luggage on any aircraft.

For a female traveller this means that if she needs to carry a cabin bag she cannot also carry a handbag. This poses quite a few problems.

For other travellers who are keen photographers it means they cannot carry a camera plus equipment as well as a cabin bag.

Although I assume the EU regulations are made to ensure a swifter passage when hand baggage is being inspected, it would appear that the regulations are flawed.

I now understand that anyone who purchases duty free products (liquids) from a non-EU country and passes, in transit, through an EU country before reaching their EU destination has these products confiscated.

Are these regulations "written in stone" or will there be further discussions by MEPs in the not-too-distant future so that these draconian rules can be amended?

New security regulations for air travel entered into force last November.

These were introduced in the wake of the foiled terrorist attempt, last August, to set off liquid explosives on board planes flying from London to the United States. Subsequently, the British government called on the European Union (EU) to introduce new security restrictions with regard to liquids that can be taken on board a plane and these were applied since last November.

In the main, the new rules affect the quantity of liquids passengers can take on board in their hand luggage. The restrictions do not apply to liquids packed in the luggage that is checked in.

Briefly, liquid bottles larger than 100ml can no longer be taken on board for any kind of liquids, gels, paste or sprays. Moreover, the different bottles of this size must all be placed in a re-sealable transparent plastic bag (of the frozen-foods type) of a maximum one litre volume. So only a few very small bottles can fit.

The reason why the quantity of liquids is being restricted is because, according to security experts, it is not possible to make an explosive that could seriously damage an aircraft with such small quantities. And the reason why all liquids, including harmless liquids, such as water, are being subjected to these rules, is that current security screening machines are not sufficiently efficient in distinguishing between liquids.

Some exceptions do apply, such as in the case of medicines and baby food. However, in these cases, passengers may be asked to prove that the liquids concerned are indeed "innocent".

As to hand luggage, the information I have seen does not clearly limit hand luggage to just one piece per passenger. I have not been able to consult the full official documentation since the annex in the law that sets out "detailed measures for aviation security" has been kept secret for security reasons.

However, we all know that airlines, presumably following IATA recommendations, have long been following the one-piece-of-hand-luggage practice, albeit with a measure of flexibility. As a result, it is quite possible for airlines to demand that female passengers choose between their hand luggage and their hand bag.

What the new rules certainly do is require hand luggage to be limited in size. This new rule, which will enter into force from April this year, will limit the size of hand luggage to a maximum of 56cm x 45cm x 25cm. Larger bags will have to be checked in.

The reason for this is that large bags are more difficult to screen and affect the speed and quality of the security screening.

However, exceptions can be made for over-size bags containing valuable or fragile items, such as musical instruments. Exceptions can also be made for cameras. Passengers should, however, clear this at check in.

As to duty-free goods, goods purchased prior to screening will now be placed in sealed - tamper-proof - bags. These bags should not be opened as, otherwise, the goods may be confiscated at any subsequent security screening, especially when one is flying in transit. If the sealed bag is not opened, there is no problem of confiscation.

The rules apply on all flights leaving EU countries even when they are flying out of the EU territory. Many non-EU countries are also applying them.

There is no doubt that these regulations involve restrictions on what travellers can or cannot take with them on board a plane and this creates some inconvenience. Passengers are not only restricted on the liquids and pieces of hand luggage they can take on board, but they must also follow more stringent procedures during security screening, such as by taking off their coats and taking their laptops out of their carry bags.

People travelling last November will surely remember that these new restrictions led to chaotic queues in security screening and even flight delays. A few months on, however, things seem to have improved somewhat.

The inconvenience remains. But it is a price worth paying for greater security. Greater security is an ongoing struggle. So, yes, these rules can change and, depending on circumstances, they may be relaxed or even made stricter.

Readers who are interested to learn more about the new rules can consult this site: http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=MEMO/06/363&format=HTML&aged=0&language=EN&guiLanguage=en.

Readers who would like to ask questions to be answered in this column can send an e-mail, identifying themselves, to contact@simonbusuttil.eu or through www.simonbusuttil.eu.