The ban has raised fears of even longer lines at airport security.- Alamy Image
These extra restrictions are not going to create a lot of disruption at airport security.
Published: Mon 9 Jul 2018, 3:00 PM
Updated: Mon 9 Jul 2018, 10:37 PM
The UK government is mulling to ban everyday items like make-up, coffee, baby powder, and spices from hand luggage on all flights leaving the UK.
A new report claims that the list of hand luggage items set to be banned could bring powders under the same restrictions as liquids, according to The Times report quoted in Mirror. A similar ban was introduced in Australia, the US, and New Zealand last month after Australian officials foiled a plot to blow up an Etihad flight from Sydney to Abu Dhabi last year. It is stated that a 'sophisticated' device hidden in a meat mincer was sent from Syria to a terror cell in Sydney and a major terror attack was supposedly averted as the suitcase was abandoned at check-in, possibly because it was too heavy.
Under the ban, all powders would be restricted to 12 ounces or 56 grams and would have to go through further security checks for all flights leaving the UK. But the ban has raised fears of even longer lines at airport security.
However, the Department of Transport was unavailable to comment on The Times' report while a spokesman said, "It is for each country to determine its own security measures based on its own assessments. We work closely with all our international partners to keep aviation security under constant review."
Mils Hills, an associate professor in risk, resilience and corporate security at the University of Northampton said, "These extra restrictions are not going to create a lot of disruption at airport security but it has the potential to feed into general concerns by the public about the safety of flying."