What can you take on a plane?

The liquids rule

In hand luggage every liquid, cream or gel must be in containers of max 100 ml, all inside one resealable transparent 1-liter bag (one per passenger). Medicines and baby food are exempt in the quantity needed. Note: airports with new CT scanners are phasing the limit out, but until your airport says so, the 100 ml rule applies.

The golden battery rule

Everything with lithium batteries (power banks, e-cigs, spare batteries) travels in the cabin, NEVER checked: if one overheats, the crew must be able to intervene.

Note

Standard EU security rules (Reg. 2015/1998) for flights departing the EU: airlines can add restrictions (size, number of bags) and non-EU countries may differ on your return.

Why exactly 100 millilitres

The limit is about the capacity of the container, not the liquid inside it: a half-empty 200 ml bottle is taken away anyway, because the check reads the label. It is the rule that makes people throw away most at security, and it comes from the 2006 attempt involving liquid explosives.

The bag must be transparent, resealable and one litre, one per passenger, and it has to come out of your luggage at the checkpoint. Some airports with new-generation scanners have dropped the requirement, but the rule still applies across most of Europe and it is worth preparing for the stricter case.

The exceptions almost nobody knows

Allowed above 100 ml are medicines with a prescription or their packaging, baby food and milk when travelling with a small child, and dietary liquids for documented medical needs. They must be declared at the checkpoint, not buried in a bag.

Liquids bought after security also travel without a limit, but only inside the sealed duty-free bag with the receipt visible. If there is a connection outside the European Union, that bag can be confiscated at the second check: the classic trap for anyone buying a bottle on the way out.

Batteries, scissors and pocket knives

Power banks and spare lithium batteries go in the cabin only, never in the hold: if one overheats in the cabin somebody notices and acts, in the hold nobody does. Above 100 Wh you need the airline's permission, above 160 Wh they are not carried at all.

For scissors the European rule is blade length: up to 6 cm from the pivot they can go in the cabin, beyond that they cannot. Pocket knives stay banned from the cabin regardless, while almost all of them pass in the hold: the difference is not how dangerous the object is, it is where it could be used.

Nearby tools

The sizes your airline accepts are checked with Cabin bag sizes, and the list of what is missing with Packing checklist. If the flight then runs late, Delayed flight compensation says whether you are owed anything.