New airport scanners could stop liquid bombers
Airline industry hopes trials are successful
Restrictions on taking liquids on planes introduced after the terror plot to blow up transatlantic airliners could be eased if trials of new scanners prove successful.
The scanners are designed to identify substances such as hydrogen peroxide - a chemical that can be mixed with other ingredients to produce explosives.
The airline industry, which has been hit hard by the restrictions, is hoping the trials at Newcastle Airport prove successful.
A spokeswoman for Virgin said the new could make the restrictions unnecessary.
She said: "With better technology coming on stream, it is appropriate to review the restrictions to ensure passengers are able to make as easy a journey as possible through airport security checks."
The news came as three Islamic extremists faced life sentences after being convicted of the suicide bomb plot, which could have caused more carnage than the September 11 attacks.
Controlled and funded by al Qaida masterminds in Pakistan, the British-born terrorists planned to detonate their home-made liquid bombs on board flights bound for major north American cities.
Donald Stewart-Whyte, 23, from High Wycombe, was found not guilty of both conspiracy to murder on aircraft and conspiracy to murder.