Luton Airport charging passengers £1 for plastic bag to get through security
07.08.07
Passengers at Luton Airport are having to pay £1 for clear plastic bags to take liquids through security, the Daily Mail reports. At other UK airports - including Heathrow, Stansted and Gatwick - the plastic bags, which cost fractions of a penny, are provided free.
Government guidelines changed after security services disrupted a terror plot to blow up planes to the US with liquid explosives last August. The advice was modified in November so passengers were able to carry small amounts of liquids through security but only if they were contained in one clear, resealable plastic bag, no larger than 20cm by 18cm.
Now passengers carrying fluids in their hand luggage at Luton Airport are told to get the bags before going through passport control. They have to buy a £1 capsule containing four bags from a dispenser, even though they are only allowed to carry one bag on board. If they reach security without a bag - or with one which is too big, not resealable or is opaque - they are either turned back or their liquids are confiscated.
Passenger groups told the newspaper that the airport should do more to warn people to bring a bag with them from home. Simon Evans, chief executive of the industry watchdog, the Air Transport Users Council, said: 'We would hope that if an airport like Luton decided that they would not provide these bags free they would get the information out there. They should get together with their airline partners and let passengers know. It sounds like Luton could have done a bit more.'
At Luton Airport the bright orange dispensers are provided by the company Fuzzy Brush, which also has them at Bristol and Belfast airports. Mike Ginty, one of the firm's distributors, said: 'I can understand that people may well be opposed to paying £1 for four bags but the machines cost several hundreds of pounds each.'
A spokesman for Luton airport, owned by Spanish group TBI, told the newspaper: 'The intention is to avoid people getting through security and finding they're not provided. Every step of the way we're trying to say to people you need a bag for your liquids. It's unfortunate if it doesn't come across that way.'
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