Prague Airport set to streamline security checks, eliminate limit on liquids

Security measures that have been in place at Prague's Václav Havel Airport since 2006 may soon become a thing of the past, according to a spokesperson for the airport. Thanks to new scanning technology, the 100-milliliter limit on liquids and requirement to take electronics out of one's bag will no longer be necessary.

The new measures would, at least initially, only take effect at Terminal 2, which serves flights within the European Union. The security area at Terminal 1 would need to undergo reconstruction before the new technology can be installed.

"The plan is to obtain X-rays with computed tomography [CT scanning technology], which allow liquids and all electronic devices to be kept inside the luggage," Václav Havel Airport spokesperson Klára Divíšková told Zdopravy.cz earlier this week.

"Thanks to this technology, it will also be possible to relax the rule on the declaration and transport of liquids with a volume limitation of up to 100 milliliters."

Tightened security measures including the limitation on liquids have been in place at Václav Havel Airport and airports around the world since 2006, when a terrorist plot to detonate liquid explosives aboard a transatlantic flight was foiled.

But CT scanning, the same type of technology used in the medical industry, could allow for airport security checks to be streamlined, with items remaining in bags and no need for a limitation on liquids.

The technology was trialled at JFK Airport in New York, Heathrow in London, and Schiphol in Amsterdam in 2018. Since 2020, Schiphol has fully integrated the new security measures, and no longer requires passengers to unpack their bags or toss their liquids; it warns travelers that they still may face these measures elsewhere, however.

While those measures remain in effect in Prague, they could soon become a thing of the past, according to Divíšková. A date for the installation of the new technology has not been set, but it could take place at Terminal 2 as soon as next year.

In addition to the faster security checkpoints, passengers at Václav Havel Airport can also look forward to additional food and drink facilities in the near future. New dining options from healthy eating concept Natoo, Lavazza coffee, and local sandwich brand Bageterie Boulevard should open at the airport later this year.