The chaos summer of 2022 is still a bad memory. The airports were completely overwhelmed by the rush of holidaymakers, especially at the security checkpoints, the passengers were jammed, the airlines had to recommend that they be there at least three hours before departure. We don't want that to happen again this year.

Dyrk Scherff

Editor in the "Value" section of the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung.

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New devices are expected to make a contribution to this. They are also called CT scanners and use the technology that patients are familiar with from computer tomographs, in which they are sometimes X-rayed. At the security checkpoints, the new scanners make it possible to no longer unpack anything from hand luggage, i.e. laptops and other electronics as well as liquids, cosmetics and sprays can remain in the backpack or trolley.

This is convenient, significantly reduces the waiting time and, in the best case, also leads to the annoying restriction of 100 milliliters of liquid per container and one liter in total being eliminated. This is made possible by the fact that the new scanners create not just a few images of the baggage, but hundreds – three-dimensionally. The image can even be rotated 360 degrees and analyzed from all sides. This increases the hit rate in the evaluation.

Munich wants to convert everything by 2025

The devices have been successfully tested in recent years. In Munich, 160 percent more, and in Frankfurt even more than three times as many passengers could be checked in the same time. Now the devices will be introduced gradually in the coming years. This year it really starts. Frankfurt and Munich are the pioneers in this regard. The Bavarians are purchasing 60 more scanners for 45 million euros, the first of which are scheduled to go into operation in May.

The entire airport is to be converted by 2025. Frankfurt has seven devices in use so far, with a further 2024 to be added by spring 24. The airport operator Fraport cannot yet say when all of the approximately 170 will be converted. Two scanners are in use in Cologne/Bonn. There are also plans for the other German airports to use the new devices for the first time.

The Federal Police is responsible for a total of twelve airports. "We plan to equip more airports with the first CT-based X-ray machines in the short term and all airports with them in the medium term," it says on request. Such devices are also increasingly being used abroad, for example in London, Helsinki, Ireland or Los Angeles. The furthest in Europe is Amsterdam-Schiphol, which, according to its own information, has already completely switched to the new technology.

There are several reasons why the conversion is not faster: The scanners are significantly more expensive than the previous devices. In some cases, they cost ten times as much, according to Munich. In addition, existing equipment is sometimes leased, with airports waiting for the end of the leasing period. Sometimes they are still very new and don't really need to be replaced yet. And finally, the CT scanners cannot be procured so quickly in the necessary quantities.

The limit for liquids will fall

An interesting question is what happens if someone with too much liquid is checked by one of the new scanners. The restriction was introduced after an attempted terrorist attack with explosives in beverage bottles was thwarted. Actually, only 100 milliliters are allowed, but there are no limits to the new devices. Does a passenger still have to dispose of the bottles if they are lying over them?

This is at the discretion of the inspectors on site, according to the German aviation association BDL. In Frankfurt and Munich, passengers are allowed to keep bottles that are too large if they have been checked by a CT scanner. Nevertheless, Fraport recommends limiting yourself to 100 milliliters. Because you don't know beforehand which device you will be checked by and which scanners are available when changing planes at other airports. The Federal Police is also putting the brakes on: "A complete abolition of the fluid rules at airports is practically only possible with a complete switch to CT devices." Until then, passengers can hopefully at least look forward to shorter waiting times.