Due to high-tech 3D scanners, security restrictions on liquids and laptops in airport hand luggage could be eliminated in the UK within two years.
The government is considering deploying more advanced scanners by mid-2024, according to a source, though no final decision has been made.
The equipment, which is similar to CT scanners used in hospitals, provides a clearer picture of the contents of a bag.
Due to the pandemic, an earlier installation deadline was pushed back.
According to the Times, ministers have been conducting a review, and an announcement is expected before Christmas, with the hope of reducing queues at UK airports.
Currently, passengers taking liquid in their cabin baggage are restricted to clear plastic bags holding no more than 100ml, which must be shown to security staff in a single, transparent, resealable plastic bag of about 20cm (8in) x 20cm.
Those limits have been in place since November 2006. Their introduction ended a ban on liquids in the cabin imposed three months earlier, when British police said they had foiled a plot to blow up as many as 10 planes using explosives hidden in drinks bottles.
But the new technology enables staff to zoom in on a bag’s contents and rotate the images for inspection.
The 3D scanners have been trialled at London Heathrow Airport, starting in 2017.
Its chief executive, John Holland-Kaye, told The Times newspaper: “We are slowly rolling them out.
“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 [Department for Transport]. By then the normal passenger experience will be that liquids stay in bags.”
The technology has already been in use by US airports, such as Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson and Chicago’s O’Hare, for a number of years.
Former Prime Minister Boris Johnson made a pledge to use the scanning technology to speed up pre-boarding checks and improve security, giving UK airports a deadline of the end of 2022.
But passenger numbers were dented during the pandemic with travel restrictions in place across much of the globe.
The latest figures from the International Air Transport Association for September show that passenger traffic levels have only reached 73% of pre-Covid levels.
A spokeswoman for the Department for Transport said: “Passengers at UK airports must not carry liquid containers larger than 100ml through security, and both liquids and electronics should be taken out of cabin bags at airport security checkpoints.”