The 100ml Liquid Rule in 2026: Which Airports Actually Allow More

There is still no single EU-wide or UK-wide answer to "how much liquid can I bring in my hand luggage" in 2026 — it depends on which airport, and sometimes which terminal or security lane, you're flying through. New CT scanners have let a growing list of airports raise the limit to 2 litres per container, but the rollout is airport-by-airport, not a flipped switch, and several major hubs still enforce the old 100ml rule on at least some of their lanes. The only safe assumption going into any trip is the old one: pack for 100ml, and check your specific departure and return airport before you travel.

Quick answer

• The default is still 100ml per container, UK-wide and EU-wide. The UK government's own guidance states plainly that liquids over 100ml can't go through security at most airports, even in a partly-full bottle.
• A growing number of airports allow up to 2 litres per container — but it's airport-specific, and sometimes lane-specific. Airports with new CT (computed tomography) scanners installed across all their lanes can raise the limit; airports with only partial rollout may run the old rule in one terminal and the new one in another.
• Always check both your departure and return airport, close to your travel date. A traveler can fly out from an airport with the higher limit and fly home through one that still enforces 100ml — the rule travels with the airport, not with you.

Why there's no single rule yet

This isn't a new story, and that's part of why it's confusing. The EU and UK both originally targeted summer 2024 for a broad rollout of CT scanners that would let airports drop the 100ml limit. The UK's three busiest airports missed that deadline, and in mid-2024 the UK's Department for Transport actually reinstated the 100ml limit at several airports that had briefly relaxed it, after scanner performance didn't meet the required standard. The European Commission has continued moving toward a regulatory framework for the higher limit since then, but implementation has stayed in the hands of individual airports and national aviation-security authorities — there's no single date on which the old rule disappears everywhere at once.

That matters practically: an airport adopting the new scanners does so on its own timeline, limited by how many lanes it can equip and certify. The result, going into the last months of 2026, is a genuine patchwork — and one that keeps shifting as more lanes come online.

What's reported to apply where, right now

The UK government's official hand-luggage guidance confirms the 100ml default and notes that "some airports" allow containers up to 2 litres, without naming them — travelers are explicitly told to check the rules for their departure, connecting, and return airports directly. Travel-industry reporting through September 2026 has tried to fill that gap with airport-by-airport rundowns; treat the specifics below as a snapshot of recent reporting, not an official list, since lane-by-lane rollouts change through the rest of this year and into 2027.

Status	Reported examples
Reported to allow up to 2L per container, broadly	London Heathrow, Birmingham, Edinburgh, Dublin, Vienna, Rome Fiumicino (most departures), Kraków
Reported as partial — depends on terminal or lane	Berlin BER, Frankfurt, Munich, Milan Malpensa, Prague
CT scanners installed, but 100ml still reported to apply	Amsterdam Schiphol, Helsinki, Copenhagen, London Stansted, Manchester
Reported as still fully on the 100ml rule	Madrid Barajas, Barcelona El Prat, Lisbon, Nice, Brussels

This table reflects travel-industry reporting from autumn 2026, not an official EU or UK document, and airport policies can change with little notice. Check your airport's own security page before you pack, not a list like this one.

What "2 litres" actually means where it applies

Where the higher limit is in effect, it isn't an open invitation to pack a full toiletry bag loose. Reporting on the airports above describes the practical rule as: each individual container can hold up to 2 litres (rather than the old single 100ml ceiling), scanned in one pass through a CT lane rather than pulled out into a separate plastic bag. Some airports also let laptops and tablets stay in your bag during screening when it goes through a CT lane, which is a separate but related change from the same scanner upgrade. A few reports note exceptions even at "upgraded" airports — certain metal containers or double-walled bottles (like vacuum flasks) may still need to be empty, because their shape or material doesn't scan reliably even on the newer equipment.

Regardless of the airport, every UK airport already allows containers over 100ml — up to 2 litres — for essential medical needs, special dietary requirements, and baby food or milk, under long-standing rules that predate the CT scanner rollout entirely. And if you're buying duty-free liquids after security, those travel in a sealed security bag with the receipt visible, which is a different allowance again.

This liquid-container story is separate from the EU's cabin-bag size and weight rules, which are their own patchwork of airline-by-airline allowances rather than a security-screening change — see our guide to the EU's hand luggage rules for that side of packing for a European flight.

How to actually plan around this

Three habits cover almost every situation until the rules settle into something consistent:

• Check both ends of your trip, close to your travel date. Your outbound airport having the higher limit tells you nothing about your return airport, and a terminal move or scanner outage can change things week to week.
• Pack as if 100ml is still the rule, then treat anything extra as a bonus. If you're wrong about an airport's status, packing conservatively costs you nothing; packing a full-size bottle on the assumption of a 2-litre limit that turns out not to apply can cost you the bottle at security.
• Keep your valuables and electronics organized, not just your liquids. Security trays, bins, and the general chaos of a checkpoint are a common place to set something down and walk off without it — a passport, a phone, a smaller bag. That's a separate problem from the liquid rule, but it tends to spike at exactly the same moment: when you're repacking a bag at the belt because the rules weren't what you expected.

That last point is where a Find My–enabled piece of carry-on actually earns its keep — not because it changes any security rule, but because repacking under time pressure at a checkpoint is a well-documented way to leave something behind. Seekerity's Smart Tracking Card is thin enough to sit in a toiletry bag or a packing cube without adding bulk, and the Smart Lock keeps a checked or gate-checked bag both secured and locatable if it's repacked, re-tagged, or delayed after you've already gone through.

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