What are the hand luggage rules around liquids?

Restrictions on taking liquids on a plane have been around for more than a decade - but its still amazing how even the most frequent fliers can forget some of the rules. If you’re checking hold luggage in for longer trips - it's advisable to put your liquids in there. But if you’re going short-haul on a city break then you need to pack all your toiletries into your hand luggage.

The main two rules to remember is that you can only take liquid containers holding no more than 100ml. And you are limited in numbers as they must all fit into one (single), transparent and reseable, plastic bag. To give you an idea this is about 20cm by 20cm.

No one wants to have their expensive cosmetics or perfume confiscated, but these rules are very tight and security will not allow you to take them onboard if they don’t fit the guidelines. Also if you have a container that is bigger than 100ml, but isn’t full - the same rules apply - they will be taken off you at security.

What constitutes a liquid?

We’re making this clear as you may be surprised that items such as mascara, toothpaste and jam fall into this category. So you don’t get caught out at security here is the government list of what they class as a liquid.

The hand luggage liquid list includes:

all drinks, including water liquid or semi-liquid foods, for example:

• soup 
• jam
• honey and syrups cosmetics and toiletries
• including creams
• lotions
• oils
• perfumes
• mascara and lip gloss sprays
• including shaving foam
• hairspray and spray deodorants pastes
• including toothpaste gels
• including hair and shower gel contact lens solution any other solutions and items of similar consistency

Hand luggage liquid exemptions

You are able to take liquid containers larger than 100ml through security if they are for essential medical reasons and dietary reasons (see the section of medicine for more details), baby milk (see section on travelling with babies) and of course liquids you’ve brought after you’ve gone through security. These of course include duty free for example - but make sure you have the receipt and the items are sealed in the security bag you brought them in. Airport staff may still open the latter to check while passing through security again. Of course you can take drinks (under 100ml) like bottles of water and soft drinks onto the plane that have been brought after you gone through security checks. These rules are generally covered by the EU - so if you are travelling outside of the EU (or post-Brexit) you should check again.
You can find all the latest Brexit travel advice here.