Europe may relax liquid carry-on restrictions

You’re feeling pretty savvy. You’ve just purchased a bottle of Johnnie Walker Blue Label for only $150 at the duty-free shop and have it snugly wrapped in your carry-on bag. But your smile quickly fades after you land in Amsterdam and a customs official (legally) confiscates your precious whisky because it exceeds the European Union’s volume limit on liquids. Fortunately, such tragedies may soon be a thing of the past.

The AP reports that European Union rules permitting a maximum of 100 ml. (3.4 oz.) of liquids in carry-on luggage are likely to be eased for international transit passengers. Currently, flyers who buy liquids in countries outside the EU are not permitted to take those liquids onboard when transferring planes at airports within the Union. As a result, airports have seen “widespread confiscations, confusion, and delays.”

Though each member country will have to approve the easing of the rules, an EU spokesman says the process could begin on a country-by-country basis by the year’s end.

This seems like a positive development for those of us who will be flying through Europe. It may not feel so positive for EU customs officials, whose liquor supplies will surely dwindle.