Business travellers flying out of Heathrow and Glasgow airports must once again remove their laptops from hand luggage when passing through security, following the end of a trial by The Department for Transport.
The two BAA airports had been granted permission to allow their passengers to leave laptops inside hand luggage, but this special dispensation has now been removed while the DfT evaluates the results of the 18-month trial.
A spokesperson for BAA said:
“Passengers carrying laptops as cabin baggage are now required to remove them from bags for security screening.
“The DfT are reintroducing this requirement following the completion of a trial which took place at Heathrow and Glasgow airports.
“Passengers are being informed of the requirement before arriving at security areas across the airports.”
When Business Traveller passed through security at Heathrow Terminal 3 on February 28 these new restrictions were in place, but it is not until yesterday (March 16) that a posting was made on the travel news section of the British Airways website saying that:
“The Department for Transport (DfT) requires all laptops to be removed from customers' bags during the security process at all London Heathrow terminals, because they must be scanned separately.
“Please allow a few extra minutes for this security measure.”
For more information visit baa.com, ba.com, dft.gov.uk.
Report by Mark Caswell
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