The UK could axe limits on liquids in hand luggage by 2024 as airports are given a deadline to install more advanced security scanners.
Passengers will no longer have to remove laptops from their carry-on or restrict liquids to 100ml by mid-2024, a source has told The Times.
It's expected major UK airports will install more advanced CT security scanners to enable the change in policy.
New screening equipment is being tested at Heathrow and Gatwick Airports and The Times reported that the Department of Transport (DfT) told the UK's major airports that older technology must be phased out.
"We are slowly rolling them out," John Holland-Kaye, the chief executive of Heathrow, told The Times.
"We have just started the expansion of the security area in Terminal 3 which will have more CT scanners and have a deadline of mid-2024 from the DfT. By then the normal passenger experience will be that liquids stay in bags."
Ministers are expected to make a formal announcement regarding the restrictions in the coming weeks.
A ban on taking larger liquids on board aircraft was introduced in the UK in 2006 after a planned terror attack using liquid explosives was thwarted at Heathrow.
Australia adopted similar restrictions in 2007.
Australia's Department of Home Affairs has been reached for comment on whether there were considerations to remove limits in Australia.
