The Commission announced on 20 April 2007 that it would delay the introduction of a regulation limiting the maximum size of cabin bags to 56cm x 45cm x 25cm.
The measure, due to be introduced on 6 May 2007, was one of a raft of rules adopted last summer to tighten security on flights, after a terrorist plot to smuggle liquid explosives onto an aircraft flying from London’s Heathrow airport to the US was exposed (EurActiv 28/09/06).
Other measures adopted included a ban on the amount of liquids that passengers can carry on board.
The ban entered into force last November, causing confusion and disruption at European airports, with more than 20 tonnes of duty-free goods and 1,600 litres of alcohol and perfume being confiscated each week at Frankfurt and Amsterdam airports (EurActiv 13/02/07).
European airports, which have often protested about the financial burden of new security measures, welcomed the Commission's decision to postpone the regulation. Airports Council International Europe said: "Following the implementation of the liquids rules, which has resulted in a 25% reduction in through-put at airport security checkpoints, ACI Europe feared that this latest provision would further inconvenience passengers without any proven technical justification from a security perspective."
Transport Commissioner Jacques Barrot declared that the decision was a sign that the Commission is willing to listen to stakeholders' concerns and said he had asked an expert body to evaluate, over the next 12 months, the security benefits that could accrue from a limit on cabin-bag size.
Rules banning passengers from carrying liquids of more than 100 ml on board will come under review next month.
