Passengers travelling through airports in Spain will no longer have to remove liquids or electronic devices at security.
In a move to speed up security checks, Aena plans to implement 3D X-Ray scanners at Spanish airports that will allow luggage to be inspected without opening it. This means that passengers will no longer have to remove their laptops or place their liquids in a separate tray in those fiddly little plastic bags.
Madrid-Barajas and Barcelona-El Prat will pioneer this system from 2024, and then the state-of-the-art technology will be rolled out across every airport in Spain in the following years.
Aena will make a “significant” investment in EDSCB (Explosive Detection System or Cabin Baggage) equipment which is designed to generate a 3D image of the content of suitcases. With this, passengers won’t have the hassle of separating their liquids or electronics, thus saving the traveller time without compromising airport security.
These scanners are already being trialled at London’s Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted airports, and the UK government has announced that it will change security regulations so that they will be operational by 2024. Here in Spain, Palma de Mallorca plans to roll out the technology over the next four years.
The current rules, implemented after a failed terrorist attack in 2006, stipulate the passengers must carry all liquids including perfume, shampoos and aerosols in sealable, transparent plastic bags. When the new regulations come into force, travellers will be allowed to freely store toiletries in medium or family size in their hand luggage.
After Barcelona and Madrid, the scanners will be installed at the airports of Palma de Mallorca and Malaga Costa del Sol from 2025 and in the year 2026 in Gran Canaria, Tenerife Sur, César Manrique Lanzarote, Fuerteventura, Alicante-Elche Miguel Hernández, Ibiza, Valencia, Bilbao and Menorca.