Airline Liquid Ban: EU Prohibits Urine

We here on this side of the pond don’t hear too much about the European counterparts to aviation security rules, and the lack in communication can cause some severe annoyances, like having that expensive bottle of perfume or liquor confiscated at your connection point.

The official rules will be published on October 17, and take effect November 6, 2006, according to Bloomberg.

One of the obscure side effects on these rules is how they will affect UEFA, the European soccer ruling body.

airlines and airport operators expect chaos at European airports when new rules take effect on Nov. 6 restricting liquids, even soccer players’ urine samples, on board aircraft

EU’s new rules are pretty much hand in hand with the TSA’s rules:

Under the new rules, passengers will be limited to taking containers of no more than 100 milliliters (3 fluid ounces), packed in plastic bags no bigger than 1-liter (1.1-quart). The European Commission decided to restrict fluids on flights leaving its 25 member nations after U.K. authorities thwarted in August what they said was a plan to blow up U.S.-bound planes using liquid explosives.

However, if you have a connection from the US or from other locations through the EU countries and have purchased duty-free liquids at your departure airport, you could stand to have them confiscated.

For example, a passenger who buys a bottle of bourbon at New York’s John F. Kennedy Airport, then flies to Frankfurt and on to Zurich will see the liquor confiscated in Frankfurt as of next month.