For almost twenty years, the airport security tray told the same story at nearly every gate on earth. Liquids had to travel in containers no larger than 100 millilitres, all of it squeezed into one small clear bag. That ritual is finally starting to break, and Heathrow just delivered the loudest crack in it yet. On January 23, 2026, the busiest airport in Europe scrapped the 100ml cabin limit across all of its terminals and began letting travelers carry containers as large as 2 litres straight through screening.
There is a catch that matters more than the headline, though. The liquid rule is set by the airport you fly out of, not by your airline, your ticket class, or the country you are heading to. A growing list of British and European airports has moved to the relaxed limit, while most of the world, and every airport in the United States, still enforces the old 100ml standard. Fly out of one and connect through another and you can end up packing to two different rules on a single trip.
So the real question for summer 2026 is not whether the 100ml rule is dead. It is which specific airports on your route have actually dropped it, and how to pack so you do not hand a full size bottle to a screener at the worst possible moment.
- What changed: Heathrow lifted the 100ml cabin liquid limit across all four passenger terminals on January 23, 2026.
- New limit there: Containers up to 2 litres, roughly 68 US fluid ounces, can stay in your bag through screening.
- Why now: A scanner overhaul reported at around 1 billion pounds that builds a 3D image and clears liquids without pulling them out.
- The trap: Your departure airport sets the rule. Many UK and EU airports still run the old 100ml limit, and so does every US checkpoint.
What actually changed at Heathrow
Heathrow spent several years and a budget reported at around 1 billion pounds tearing out its old X-ray lanes and replacing them with computed tomography scanners, the same kind of 3D imaging used in hospital CT machines. The new scanners build a rotating, high resolution picture of everything inside a cabin bag, which lets security officers identify liquids and electronics without making passengers pull them out. Once the technology covered every lane, the 100ml limit no longer served a screening purpose, so it went away.
The airport now says liquids in containers up to 2 litres, roughly 68 US fluid ounces, can stay inside your cabin bag through every checkpoint in Terminals 2, 3, 4 and 5, and laptops can stay packed as well. Heathrow keeps the current details on its own hand baggage and liquids page, which is the page to check in the days before you fly. The shift makes Heathrow the first major global hub to fully retire the 100ml rule, a notable milestone given how much transatlantic and connecting traffic funnels through it every summer.
One thing to keep in perspective: the relaxation is about volume, not a free pass on everything else. The clear plastic bag is no longer required at Heathrow, but the usual limits on sharp objects and other restricted items still apply, and security can always ask to inspect a container by hand.
Where in Europe you can pack full size now
Heathrow is the loudest example, but it is not the only one. Several other British airports that have finished their own CT scanner rollouts have lifted the limit as well, including Gatwick, Birmingham, Bristol, Edinburgh and the Belfast airports. Just as important is the list that has not switched yet. Manchester, Stansted, Luton, East Midlands, Aberdeen and Newcastle were still publishing the 100ml limit as of this summer, so a domestic connection inside the UK can flip you back to the strict rule without warning.
On the continent, the picture is patchier still. Travelers have been able to bring liquids up to 2 litres at a scattered set of hubs including Milan Linate, Rome Fiumicino, Bologna, Dublin, and Prague’s Terminal 2, along with several regional airports in Poland, Lithuania, Romania, Denmark and Malta. Euronews keeps a running tally of which European airports have dropped the limit and which have not. It is worth a look if your trip routes through more than one city, and you can scan its European airport breakdown before you finalize your packing. Most other airports across Spain, France and Italy still rely on older X-ray machines and continue to enforce 100ml.
| Where you depart | Liquids you can carry | How to pack |
|---|---|---|
| Heathrow, Gatwick, Edinburgh, Birmingham, Bristol, Belfast | Up to 2 litres per container, bag stays packed | Full size toiletries are fine, but keep them easy to reach in case a lane reverts |
| Select EU hubs such as Rome Fiumicino, Milan Linate, Dublin, Prague Terminal 2 | Up to 2 litres where the new CT lanes are live | Workable, but confirm on the airport website the week you fly |
| Most other airports worldwide and every US airport | 100ml, or 3.4 ounces, per container in one clear bag | Pack to the 3.4 ounce rule and treat any relaxed checkpoint as a bonus |
The catch that trips travelers up
The single most useful thing to understand is that liquid limits are decided at the checkpoint you walk through, which means the airport you depart from controls what you can carry. Your destination does not matter to the screener in front of you. Fly out of Heathrow with a full size bottle of sunscreen, clear British security, and connect onward, and the bottle is already past the checkpoint and travels with you. Start your itinerary at a 100ml airport, though, and that same bottle gets pulled at the very first checkpoint, long before you reach the relaxed hub.
That makes connections the real hazard. Anytime you change planes and clear security again, the next airport’s rules take over. The safe approach is to pack to the strictest airport on your entire route. If even one leg departs from a 100ml airport, build your liquids around the 3.4 ounce standard and treat any relaxed checkpoint as a pleasant bonus. The newer rules are also arriving lane by lane in some places, so a single airport can run a mix of new and old equipment depending on which line you join. Our look at how carry-on enforcement is shifting covers the wider trend of rules changing faster than the signage at the gate. If your trip runs deeper into Europe, it is also worth lining this up with the new entry steps in our ETIAS explainer.
The United States has not budged
This is the part that catches American travelers off guard. The Transportation Security Administration still enforces its 3-1-1 rule at every US airport: liquids in containers of 3.4 ounces, about 100 millilitres, packed into one quart size bag. The agency lays out the standard on its official liquids rule page, and it has not changed for summer 2026.
The confusing twist is that most large US airports, including Atlanta, Los Angeles, JFK and Chicago O’Hare, have already installed the same CT scanners that made the European change possible. In the United States, though, the technology has only changed the process, not the limit. At a US checkpoint with a CT scanner, you can usually leave your quart bag and your laptop inside your carry-on, but the 3.4 ounce cap on each container still stands, with narrow exceptions for medically necessary liquids, baby formula and breast milk. In practice, that means you pack to 100ml leaving home and may be able to pack to 2 litres flying back out of Heathrow. For a refresher on what American screeners still make you remove, our guide to what you still have to take out of your bag walks through the current US checkpoint routine.
- Lane by lane rollout: A single airport can run new CT lanes and old X-ray lanes at the same time, so the limit can change depending on which line you are sent to.
- Possible reversions: Airports have temporarily reinstated the 100ml limit before during equipment or staffing issues, so a relaxed rule is never guaranteed on the day.
- Connections reset the rule: Every time you clear security again, the next airport’s policy applies, even on the same ticket.
- Most of the world is unchanged: Outside a handful of European hubs, 100ml is still the default, so confirm before you assume.
How to pack for a trip through Europe this summer
The smart move in 2026 is to treat the relaxed rule as a bonus rather than a plan. Keep your everyday toiletries in a removable pouch so you can adapt at any checkpoint, confirm the liquid policy on the official website of every airport you depart from, and remember that duty free liquids bought airside are sealed in tamper evident bags for a reason, because a later checkpoint may still question them. If a strike or staffing crunch forces a last minute reroute, your liquids plan can change with it, which is one more reason our coverage of Europe’s summer travel disruptions is worth a read before you go. Pack flexible, check the airport you are actually leaving from, and the end of the 100ml era can work in your favor instead of against you.
Is the 100ml liquid rule gone for good in 2026?
No. It has been lifted at Heathrow and a handful of other UK and European airports that finished installing CT scanners, but most airports worldwide, and every US checkpoint, still enforce the 100ml limit. The rule depends entirely on the airport you depart from.
Can I bring a full size bottle of water or sunscreen through Heathrow now?
Yes. Up to 2 litres per container can stay in your cabin bag at Heathrow as of January 2026. Just remember that the same bottle can be confiscated if your next airport still runs the 100ml rule.
Does the change apply when I fly home to the United States?
It applies to the checkpoint you pass through. Leaving Heathrow for the US, you clear British security and can carry up to 2 litres. Leaving a US airport, the TSA 3.4 ounce rule still applies no matter where you are flying.
How do I know if my airport has dropped the limit?
Check the official website of every airport you depart from in the week before you travel, since rollouts move lane by lane. When in doubt, pack to the 3.4 ounce standard so you are covered everywhere.
Photo: Michael Ball, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons.
For broader planning, compare this update with Deep Arrival’s airline baggage fees guide.
