How do I take more liquids through airport security?

The first time it happened to me I genuinely thought I was about to get pulled aside. I heard it was possible, so I brought some Irish Whiskey in my carry-on so the bottles wouldn't get broken in any checked luggage.

I was in Terminal 1 at Dublin, with 2 very special (and expensive) bottles of Jameson in my luggage, and I put my bag on the belt with them still inside of it. No clear bag. Laptop still in the bag. iPad still in the bag. A little cluster of random toiletry bottles, still in the bag.

The bag went through, and surprise... I did get pulled aside. They put the Irish whiskey in a machine to check the bottles for explosive residue, but then let me take them with me. It was really nice whiskey, and the agent said jokingly (I think) "This bottle is a national treasure and should not be allowed to leave the country." the screener waved me on so I could start the process of going through pre-customs for my flight back to the US, which was completely uneventful.

If you have flown out of Dublin recently and wondered whether you imagined it, you did not. Here is what the rule actually is, why Dublin gets to do it, which other airports have caught up, and the one thing that still catches people out.

What Dublin actually allows now

Straight from Dublin Airport's own security FAQ:

• Containers up to 2 litres each, not 100ml
• No limit on how many containers you bring
• No clear plastic bag needed
• Liquids stay in your bag. You do not take them out
• Laptops, tablets and large electronics stay in your bag too
• The same 2 litre allowance covers medication, baby food and milk, and special dietary liquids

That is both terminals, every lane, every passenger. It came in at midnight going into 19 September 2025, and the Irish Times reported that around 30 new scanners went in across T1 and T2 to make it possible.

Two litres per container is a lot more than it sounds. A big bottle of water is 1.5 litres. A family sized bottle of sunscreen is nowhere near 2 litres. Unless you are packing a jug of soup, you are fine.

Why Dublin can do this and your local airport cannot

The 100ml rule was never about liquids being dangerous. It was about old machines not being able to tell the difference. A conventional x-ray gives a flat image, and a flat image cannot reliably separate shampoo from a liquid explosive. The EU wrote that limitation into law after 2006 and it stuck for nearly twenty years. The European Commission says as much in plain language: the restriction exists "because traditional security equipment, like X-ray machines, cannot effectively detect liquid explosives."

The scanner is the whole story. Change the machine and you can change the rule.

The new machines are called C3 scanners, or EDS CB if you like acronyms. They are computed tomography, the same idea as a CT scanner in a hospital. Instead of one flat picture they build a 3D model of your bag and analyse what is inside each container. The operator can rotate the bag on screen and the software flags what needs a second look. Once an airport has those machines across the whole checkpoint and the regulator signs off, the 100ml limit can be lifted to 2 litres.

There was a wobble along the way, which is why some people remember the rule appearing and then vanishing. On 31 July 2024 the European Commission reimposed the 100ml limit at airports that had already switched to the new scanners, effective 1 September 2024. The Commission was clear that it was not responding to a threat, it was "a temporary technical issue." That got resolved, and airports started switching back on through 2025. Dublin was one of the first in Europe to go all in across every lane.

Which other airports allow 2 litres right now

This is the part the internet gets wrong constantly, usually by listing airports that installed scanners rather than airports that actually changed the rule. These are the ones I have checked on the airport's own website:

Dublin. 2 litres, both terminals, since September 2025.

Heathrow. All four terminals. Heathrow finished a £1bn upgrade on 23 January 2026 and calls itself the largest airport in the world to fully roll out CT scanners. Its hand baggage page now says liquids in containers up to 2 litres can stay inside your cabin bag. Heathrow reckons the switch saves about 16 million plastic bags a year, which tells you how much theatre we were all performing.

Gatwick. Also 2 litres, with one quirk worth knowing. Gatwick says liquids must not be in metal or double walled containers. Your insulated flask is the problem, not the water in it.

Edinburgh. 2 litres, multiple containers, nothing needs to come out of the bag, after a £24 million security rebuild.

Birmingham. 2 litres, no limit on the number of containers, and Birmingham specifically asks you not to put them in plastic bags and not to take them out at the checkpoint.

Rome Fiumicino, Milan Linate and Bologna have been running the relaxed rule since around July 2025. Rome is reported to still apply 100ml to flights heading for the United States and Israel, which is a good reminder that your destination can override your departure airport.

Which airports still say 100ml

Manchester. Under 100ml per container, updated April 2026. Manchester has dropped the plastic bag requirement, so small bottles can stay loose in your bag, but anything over 100ml is still refused.

Amsterdam Schiphol. This is the one that proves the point. Schiphol finished putting CT scanners on every lane back in 2021, years before Dublin, and it is still 100ml. Having the machine is not the same as having permission to use the bigger allowance.

Frankfurt, Munich and Berlin. Partial. Some lanes have the new kit and some do not, and you do not get to choose your lane. Pack for 100ml.

Every airport in the United States. TSA's 3-1-1 rule is still the federal standard: 3.4 ounces per container, one quart bag, one bag per passenger. CT scanners are in most big hubs and they mean your laptop can stay in the bag, but the liquid limit has not moved.

Who is next

Cork is the interesting one if you are flying in or out of Ireland. Cork is building a new mezzanine level with a bigger security hall and C3-EDS machines, and the airport has said it expects the new area to be finished by Christmas 2026. Same rules as Dublin once it opens.

Munich has been spending around €45 million on 60 CT scanners with a target of having all its lanes converted by summer 2026.

Frankfurt is going lane by lane and has told passengers to keep following the 100ml rule in the meantime, which is honest of them.

Beyond that, nobody has a real deadline. The machines cost several times what an x-ray costs to buy and several times more to run, so the rollout follows budgets and terminal rebuilds. Expect years, not months.

The thing that actually catches people out

It is never the outbound flight. It is the way home.

You fly out of Dublin with a full water bottle and a normal sized bottle of shampoo, you have a great week, and then you are standing at a checkpoint in Palma or Faro or Manchester watching someone drop your shampoo in a bin. The relaxed rule belongs to the airport you are standing in, not to you, not to your airline, and not to your ticket. If you are flying to the US and have a connecting flight, there is a chance that this will not work and your liquids will be confiscated. It would be a shame to lose $500 worth of Irish whiskey.

Dublin Airport says this itself, and so does Heathrow: check the rules for the airport you are coming home from.

So the honest packing advice is boring. Pack for the strictest airport on your trip. If both ends are relaxed, enjoy it. If either end is not, the 100ml bottles come back out.

Small print worth knowing

• Empty your metal bottle. Heathrow asks you to empty reusable metal and insulated bottles before security and refill them after. Gatwick goes further and rules out metal and double walled containers for liquids entirely. The machines struggle to see through them.
• Duty free is unaffected. Sealed bags from airside shops have always been allowed and still are.
• Transfers are the fiddly bit. If you connect through an airport that has not switched, your big bottle can be taken off you at the transfer checkpoint even though it cleared your departure airport.
• Airlines have not changed anything. Two litres of liquid weighs two kilos. Your cabin bag allowance is still your cabin bag allowance, and low cost carriers do weigh bags.
• Medication and baby milk were always exempt from the 100ml rule and still are, everywhere. You do not need the relaxed rule for those.

What I do now

Two litres is a lot of water. Most bottles you would actually carry are well under the limit.

I stopped decanting things into travel bottles for trips where both ends are relaxed. I bring a full water bottle through Dublin because I would rather not buy a €4 bottle airside. Everything else stays in the bag, including the laptop, and the whole checkpoint takes about a quarter of the time it used to.

One more habit worth having. Before a trip, pull up the security page for both airports on your phone and read what they actually say, not what a some article (like this one) says they say. It takes two minutes. It is also the main reason I make sure I have working data the moment I land rather than hunting for airport wifi, because the rules at the airport you are flying home from are not something you want to be guessing at from memory.

Safe travels, and enjoy the whiskey.