As Zurich Airport faces down the peak of the summer holidays, the airport has confirmed that passengers will be able to benefit from new CT scanners at security. The equipment will allow travellers to leave their liquids and electronic devices in their bags while being checked, with officials hoping to scrap rigid liquid restrictions entirely in the future.
From now on, travellers flying out of Zurich on holiday or for work will be able to use security check lines which are fitted with brand-new CT scanners. Two of the 26 security queues will be using the tech at first as part of a major trial, before the system is implemented airport-wide in several months' time. Passengers will not be able to freely choose to use the modified lines.
Officials confirmed that passengers using the two lines will no longer have to remove any liquids or electronic devices from their luggage before being checked, akin to the system used at Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam. This is made possible by CT technology, which - much as it does in hospitals - “creates a three-dimensional image of the contents of the luggage and thus simplifies the detection of dangerous goods,“ a statement from the airport noted.
It is hoped that the new scanner will help ease the pressure on police - who are able to check the scans remotely instead of in the hubbub of the security area - speed up the security process at the airport and reduce stress on travellers. Instead of having to take your laptop and cosmetics out of your hand luggage as impatient eyes fix on you, you will simply be able to throw your bag on the conveyor and let the scanner do the rest.
Most excitingly, in the past Zurich Airport has said that installing the CT scanners will allow them to scrap the 100-millilitre rule for liquids in hand luggage. However, speaking back in April, airport spokesperson Elena Stern said that they “assume that [the 100 ml rule] at Zurich Airport will only be lifted when the new CT devices are completely switched over”, meaning that if all goes well passengers will be able to bring up to two litres of liquid on their holidays at some point in 2025.
The change comes as the award-winning airport faces the summer rush brought about by the school holidays. The airport said that it expects to have 100.000 passengers passing through every day, making speed at security all the more vital.
It hasn’t been all smooth sailing at the airport in recent months either, with bad weather and tech glitches at air traffic control restricting and delaying flights since the start of the year. Skyguide, the air traffic controller for both Zurich and Geneva, confirmed that flight operations out of both airports will be restricted by 20 percent until further notice due to software issues, making delays likely this summer.
Thumb image credit: Flughafen Zürich AG