London LHR Relaxes Liquid Rules at Security, Joining Select European Airports

Updated January 2025

Good News: London Heathrow Airport (LHR) now allows departing passengers to bring liquids in containers of up to 2 liters in their cabin luggage. So whether you want to bring a special bottle of wine or liqueur or full-size toiletries, that's now possible, at least on your departure, although on your return, you'll still be subject to the rules of the airport you're returning from. The new rules apply to passengers departing from all London Heathrow terminals: T2, T3, T4, and T5, making LHR the largest airport in the world to date to end the large liquids ban. Passengers can also leave electronic devices in their hand luggage when going through security.

That said, don't bring water in your refillable water through security, because refillable or “double walled” containers must still be brought through empty, then refilled after security.

In 2025, the European Union changed liquid restrictions at airports where security is done with computed tomography (CT) scanners, which the EU approved. Many passengers loathe the current “tyranny of tiny toiletries,” and having to cram all of them into a 1 liter plastic bag.

The bad news: very few airports have these next generation scanners in place, and the EU isn't requiring airports to install the new scanners, which are expensive. It cost over $1 billion (GBP 750 million) for London Heathrow (LHR) alone, to install the new scanners at all security checkpoints.

For those airports that do have the new CT scanners, passengers will be able to bring up to 2 liters of liquid, and they also shouldn't have to remove laptops or tablets from their carry-on luggage.

But before rearranging your European trip so as to end at one of these airports, double check that there aren't different restrictions for U.S.-bound flights; for example, at time of writing, Rome FCO has x-ray scanners for U.S.-bound and Israel-bound flights, so passengers on these flights won't be able to take advantage of the 2 liter limit that applies to other flights departing FCO to non-U.S. and non-Israel destinations.

For now, these are the European airports that allow up to 2 liters of liquids:

Birmingham BHX
Bristol BRS
Edinburgh EDI
London Gatwick LGW
London Heathrow LHR
Milan Linate LIN
Milan Malpensa MXP Terminal 1 (but note that Terminal 2 has regular scanners, so the old restrictions apply)
Rome FCO (*except* flights to the U.S. and Israel, which continue to use traditional x-ray machines, so the old restrictions apply)