Thanks to the latest technology, Finland relaxes the rules for hand luggage – in Zurich it takes “a little” longer

This week, the Finnish airport operator Finavia brought good news for air passengers: the safety regulations for hand luggage would be relaxed from 28 June. You can now transport containers with a capacity of up to 2 litres. And you no longer have to take electronic devices, such as laptops and tablets, out of your pocket and have them x-rayed separately.

At Switzerland’s largest state airport, in Kloten ZH, such relaxation is still a long way off, as evidenced by a request from Flughafen Zürich AG: the new hardware needed for more efficient hand luggage checks must be available only tested from the second quarter of 2024 become. Media spokeswoman Elena Stern reports this and explains that the test phase will take several months. “It is important that this can reflect different seasonal influences in order to visualize the different passenger profiles.”

Since 2019, those in charge in Zurich have been flirting with computed tomography devices intended to replace the earlier X-ray machines. However, due to the corona pandemic, the planned practical tests were delayed, Watson reported last December.

According to Flughafen Zürich AG, the public tender for the test phase started on May 15.

Meanwhile, the Finavia statement proudly states that “a similar new technology” is currently “only used at a very limited number of major European airports and at a few airports in the United States”.

More staff

Media spokeswoman Elena Stern confirms that the new systems offer the advantage “that liquids and electronic devices do not have to be handled separately”. The passengers therefore do not have to remove them, which on the one hand speeds up this part of the process and on the other hand means an increase in passenger comfort.

The Zurich Cantonal Police, responsible for conducting security checks, recently announced that it is hiring more staff to reduce waiting times. On the one hand, more seniors would be recruited, on the other hand people with a residence permit C for an indefinite period should also be able to apply.

Sources