Taking liquids and technical equipment out of the hand baggage not necessary anymore

Passengers will no longer need to remove liquids and large pieces of technical equipment from their hand luggage when passing through security checks at Tallinn Airport. Restrictions on the liquids that can be carried in hand luggage have also changed.

The replacement, configuration and testing of the security screening equipment, which took a month and a half, was completed a week ahead of schedule and, according to Tarvi Pihlakas, Aviation Security Manager at Tallinn Airport, passengers can now pass through security screening more comfortably: “Passengers no longer have to take liquids, laptops and other large pieces of technology out of their hand luggage and place them in a separate box – this will also reduce the time spent at security screening.” Pihlakas adds that the new generation of security screening equipment from Rapiscan Systems will help ensure security screening capacity even when passenger numbers increase.

Restrictions on the liquids that can be carried in hand luggage changed as well. Until now, all liquids had to be packed in containers no bigger than 100 millilitres and passengers could carry a total of 1 litre of liquids, which had to be packed in a resealable plastic bag, but they can now carry liquids in containers of up to two litres and there is no limit on the total volume. This means that all large shampoos, sunscreens and toothpaste tubes, as well as soft drinks and liquid foodstuffs, can be placed in hand luggage. However, passengers must ensure that the weight of their hand baggage is within the weight limits set by the airline.

Separate rules still apply to aerosols: no more than 500 millilitre containers of aerosols may be carried in hand luggage, and a total of two litres of aerosols may be carried in hand luggage per passenger.

Tarvi Pihlakas confirms that aviation security requirements were not compromised during the installation period: “Safety is paramount in aviation and all rules must be followed when changes are made. We’re very grateful for the patience of passengers during the transition period, when security screening sometimes involved unusually long waits. The team has been trained and we’ll do our best to make the security screening process quicker and more convenient in the future.”

However, passengers are still advised to arrive at the airport two hours before the start of their journey, as there is sometimes a longer wait to check in baggage, and queues can also occur at security during peak times when there are several flights and hundreds of passengers.