By Ian Silva. Checked against londoncityairport.com on 19 September 2026.
London City Airport still runs the 100ml rule. Every liquid, gel, paste and aerosol in your hand luggage has to be in a container of 100ml or less, and the size has to be printed on the label. What you do not have to do is take anything out of the bag. Liquids, laptops and tablets all stay packed, and there is no clear plastic bag to fight with. That is the whole rule. Everything below is the detail, the reason, and the things that catch people out at the lane.
The short answer
- 100ml maximum per container, with the size printed on the label
- Liquids, laptops and tablets all stay inside your hand luggage
- No clear plastic bag needed
- Anything over 100ml goes in the hold unless it is medicine with paperwork or baby food
- Position confirmed on londoncityairport.com, 19 September 2026
Does London City Airport have liquid restrictions?
Yes. As of September 2026 the airport’s own security page says liquids and gels are only allowed in containers of up to 100ml in hand luggage, and that each item must be 100ml or less with the volume clearly visible on the original label. Anything bigger goes in the hold.
If that surprises you, you are in good company. Search for it and you get a wall of 2023 headlines saying London City scrapped the rule. It did, for fourteen months. Then it came back, and it has not gone away since. A fair number of the 2026 “which airports still have 100ml” round-ups do not even list LCY, and at least two travel sites currently say it allows two litres. They are wrong.
What actually happened: 2023, 2024, and now
On 4 April 2023 London City became the first London airport to switch every security lane to CT scanners and drop the 100ml limit. You could carry two litres in one bottle and leave the laptop in. It worked, and passengers liked it.
On 9 June 2024 the Department for Transport told six airports that had gone early, London City among them, to put the 100ml limit back. The official line was that the pause was temporary and would “enable further improvements to be made to the new checkpoint systems”. The scanners stayed. The limit returned.
Since then Heathrow, Gatwick, Edinburgh, Birmingham, Bristol and both Belfast airports have been cleared for two litres. London City has not. The airport’s own security page now sets out the 100ml rule plainly. Nothing has changed since.
Why LCY still has the 100ml rule when Heathrow does not
This is the bit nobody explains, and it is the reason the rule is unlikely to change next week.
The two-litre allowance is not granted to an airport. It is granted to a specific scanner model once it passes a liquid-detection test. Trade press and frequent flyers on the FlyerTalk forums report that only one manufacturer’s machines have passed that test in the UK so far, that they are the ones fitted at Heathrow and Gatwick, and that London City chose a different supplier when it went first. The Department for Transport has not published a list, but the pattern fits: the airports reported to run one make of scanner allow two litres, those reported to run the other are still at 100ml, and LCY is in the second group. Stansted is also still at 100ml.
So the 100ml rule at City is not a staffing decision or a queue-management trick. As far as anyone outside the Department for Transport can tell, it is a certification gap, and it should lift when the approval does. Until then, plan for 100ml.
Do liquids and laptops have to come out at London City?
No. This is the one place the CT scanners still earn their keep. The airport’s instruction is to leave liquids, laptops, tablets and other electronic devices inside your hand luggage. There is no plastic bag, no digging for the toiletry pouch, no separate tray for the MacBook. The only things that go in the tray are your coat, anything large in your pockets, and a smartwatch. An ordinary watch stays on your wrist.
The practical upshot: a well-packed cabin bag goes through LCY in one tray. That is quicker than Heathrow on a normal morning, even with the smaller bottle limit.
The 100ml rule at LCY in one table
| Item | Hand luggage at LCY | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Toiletries, perfume, creams, gels | Up to 100ml per container | Size must be printed on the label. Stays in your bag. |
| Laptop, tablet, e-reader | Stays in your bag | Charge it. On some routes you may be asked to switch it on. |
| Smartwatch | In the tray | Normal watches stay on. |
| Liquid medicine over 100ml | Allowed with paperwork | Prescription or a letter on headed paper for that passenger. |
| Tablets and capsules | Allowed | No limit on quantity. |
| Baby milk and baby food | Enough for the journey | Proof of onward travel gets you more and a faster check. No metal flasks with liquid in. |
| Cooling gel packs | Allowed | Bring evidence of the medical need. |
| Cigarette lighter | One per person | Kept on you, not in the bag. |
| Camera film | Declare it | Tell the officer before it goes through the CT scanner. |
| Anything over 100ml that is not medical or baby-related | Not allowed | Hold luggage or the bin. |
What catches people out at the LCY security lane
The airport is small and the lanes are usually quick, so most problems are self-inflicted. These are the ones that come up again and again in traveller reports.
Assuming the 2023 rule still applies. The single biggest one. Passengers who read the old news turn up with a full-size shampoo or a 200ml aftershave, and it goes in the bin. Staff have been heard saying this is routine. There is no appeal at the lane.
Water bottles. A reusable bottle is fine empty. Full, it is a 500ml liquid and it will be pulled. Drain it before the queue, refill it at the fountain airside.
Secondary screening backing everything up. When a lane is down for maintenance, or a run of bags gets flagged for a manual check, the queue at City builds fast because there is nowhere for it to go. On a bad morning in the past year travellers have reported waits of close to an hour, with people held at the bottom of the escalators and released by departure time. That is rare, but it is the reason the “arrive 20 minutes before” folklore is dangerous. Pack cleanly and you are less likely to be the bag that stops the belt.
Buying big before security. There is not much landside shopping at LCY, but anything liquid you buy before the lanes counts as your liquid. Buy it airside.
Duty free on the way home. Whatever you buy airside at LCY is fine to carry onto that flight. Coming back, your return airport sets the rules. Most of Europe is still on 100ml, and if you connect anywhere, a sealed duty-free bag with the receipt visible is your only protection.
Which London airports have scrapped the 100ml rule?
Heathrow and Gatwick allow containers up to two litres. London City, Stansted and Luton do not, though all three let you leave liquids and electronics in the bag. That is the position in September 2026. It changes airport by airport as scanners are certified, so if you fly out of one airport and back through another, pack for the stricter of the two. Luton’s own rules, including its free PreBook security slots, are in our rundown of Luton’s liquids rules.
Packing for London City in 2026
Keep it simple. Decant into 100ml bottles or buy travel sizes, put them anywhere in the bag, and forget about them. Leave the laptop where it is. Empty the water bottle. Put the smartwatch in your pocket before the tray. If you need medicine over 100ml, carry the prescription. Do that and security at City is the fastest part of the trip.
If you are being driven in, tell the driver your flight time rather than an arrival time. A London City Airport chauffeur who tracks the departure board will time the drop for the lanes, not the car park, which matters more at LCY than anywhere else in London because there is so little slack in the building.
Flying from London City and want the timing handled?
See every London City Airport transfer route
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Frequently asked questions
Does London City have the new scanners?
Yes, and it has had them longer than any other London airport. Every lane has been CT since April 2023. The scanners are why you can leave everything in the bag. They are not yet certified for containers over 100ml, which is why the limit is still there.
Is the 100ml rule gone at London City Airport?
No. It was lifted in April 2023 and reinstated on 9 June 2024. It remains in force in September 2026.
Can you take liquids through London City Airport?
Yes, in containers of 100ml or less, left inside your hand luggage. Larger containers have to go in the hold unless they are medicine with paperwork or baby food.
Can I take two 100ml bottles of perfume in hand luggage?
Yes. The limit is per container, not per type of product. Two 100ml bottles are fine. One 150ml bottle is not, even if it is half empty, because the label size is what counts.
Is there a liquid limit at London City Airport for medicines?
Liquid medicine under 100ml goes through as normal. Over 100ml is allowed with a prescription or a specialist’s letter on headed paper naming the passenger. Tablets and capsules have no limit.
Do I need a clear plastic bag at London City?
No. The airport’s own wording is “no more plastic bags”. Liquids stay loose in your hand luggage.
When will London City Airport allow two litres?
When its scanners are certified for it. The airport has not given a date and neither has the Department for Transport. Treat any article giving one as a guess.
Travelling with children changes the packing list more than the rules do. If you are heading out to a family trip, our London City to Legoland Windsor transfer page has the journey detail.
For terminal layout, lounges, transport and the rest of the airport, the London City Airport guide covers it. For getting there on time, the LCY transfer page has every route we drive.
- Fixed price
- Met inside arrivals
- Flight tracked
London City transfers at a fixed price
Mercedes chauffeur, met inside arrivals, flight tracked. Price before you pay.
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