What Is the Maximum Liquid Limit on Planes?
On most flights departing Europe, the US and much of Asia, liquids in hand luggage are limited to containers of 100ml (3.4oz) each, all fitting in one clear resealable bag of about one litre — one bag per passenger. The big 2026 exception: Heathrow scrapped the rule in late January 2026 — up to two-litre containers, no clear bag. Elsewhere the old rule holds, and transfer airports can always re-impose it.
What Is the Maximum Liquid Limit on Planes?: questions people actually ask
Does a phone power bank count as a liquid?
No — power banks are battery rules, not liquid rules: they must be in hand luggage, never checked, and capacity limits apply.
Can I take an empty water bottle through security?
Yes — the rule limits liquids, not containers. Fill it at a fountain airside.
What happens if I forget and leave a big bottle in my bag?
It gets binned at the checkpoint, or you step out and drink it. Some airports offer mail-back, at airport-mail prices.
Where is the 100ml rule lifted — and where does it still apply?
The state of play in 2026 is genuinely uneven. Heathrow is the flagship exception: since late January 2026 its CT scanners allow liquids in containers up to two litres, with no clear bag and laptops staying in the case, across all terminals — verified in force since. Elsewhere the 100ml rule survives: Schiphol still enforces it as of late 2026, most EU hubs do, and US checkpoints run the TSA 3-1-1 routine unchanged. Some earlier UK upgrades were rolled back before the technology settled, and any liquid bought airside can still be confiscated at a transfer airport operating the old rule — the STEB duty-free trap below. The portable rule for 2026 travel: pack to 100ml-in-a-bag unless your departure airport is one of the confirmed 2-litre adopters, and check the connecting airports too, because the most restrictive point of the itinerary sets your real limit.
Do medications and baby food count?
No — prescription medication, baby milk, formula and baby food needed for the flight are exempt from the limit on essentially every route, though you may be asked to taste or verify them at screening. Declare them at the checkpoint rather than hiding them in the bag; exemption does not mean invisibility.
How does duty-free work with the liquid rule?
Duty-free liquids over 100ml are sold in sealed STEB security bags with the receipt inside, valid for the itinerary they were issued on. Break the seal, connect through a strict-rule airport, or fly onward the next day, and the exemption can fail. If your journey has a connection, the safest move is to treat duty-free as a final-destination purchase.
What are the rules on US departures?
The TSA 3-1-1 rule is functionally the same: containers of 3.4oz (100ml) or less, in one quart-sized bag, one per passenger, with the same exemptions for medication, baby needs and duty-free in sealed bags. The one place travellers get caught is transfers into the US — you re-clear security with your duty-free, and only sealed STEB bags survive.