Airport scanner promises end to the ban on liquids in luggage

The first security scanner that can see through bottles and detect whether they contain explosive liquid will start trials next month at Newcastle Airport. The technology could allow the Department for Transport to lift restrictions on liquid in hand luggage, meaning passengers would again be allowed to carry bottles of any size on board.

The British-built scanner works by shining an X-ray through the liquid and detecting the “spectral signature” of the image recorded on the other side. Each type of liquid has a different “signature” and the machine has been programmed to distinguish between harmless ones, such as water or alcohol, and potential explosives such as hydrogen peroxide.

The Kromek bottle scanner works even if the bottle is completely sealed, with no trace or residue on the outside. It can see through any type of bottle, even those made of metal.

Arnab Basu, the company’s chief executive, declined to say how much each machine cost but said that it was “tens of thousands of pounds, not hundreds”.