An end to the ban on airport passengers taking liquids in their hand luggage could come to an end within the next 10 months, if tests of a new scanning machine continue to be successful.
Manchester Airport in the UK has been testing the new scanners for the last 3 months. They create a very high resolution 3D X-ray image of passengers luggage which can be turned in any direction to get the best possible view of anything suspicious, the £1 million machines can also tell the difference between explosive fluids and your duty-free booze.
The airport X-ray machines are able to measure the density of substances, they can quickly differentiate between what is harmless and what could blow up a plane.
Successful tests were carried out at Manchester Airport using the machines to screen hold baggage which at the moment is done by CT scanners, similar to those used in hospitals, they are able to handle just 350 bags per hour where as the new RTT machines developed by Rapiscan Systems would scan up to 1,800 in the same time.
The ban on carrying liquids past the security check points at airports in the UK came about when an alleged terror plot was foiled in 2006, terrorists were planning to bring down as many as 10 planes travelling from the UK to the US using explosive liquids.
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