Airline luggage restrictions seen staying in place

BERLIN, Aug 11 (Reuters) - Draconian restrictions on carry-on baggage may stay in place for months, even years, after British authorities thwarted a suspected plot to blow up planes in mid-air using liquid explosives, security analysts said.

This week's critical alerts in both Britain and the United States caused massive disruption to air travellers and highlighted the need to invest in new airport checkpoint technology to screen passengers and hand luggage for explosives.

''Quite frankly, metal detectors and X-ray don't cut it,'' said Chris Yates, aviation security expert at Jane's information group.

''We need to invest. We need to get money into the checkpoint. We need to reassess how we do it ... Perhaps this is the final wake-up call to actually shake the decision makers from their lethargy.'' US authorities have banned travellers from carrying liquids and other gel-based products onto planes, a step also taken by some Asian airlines today for flights to Britain and the United States.

British airports went further by banning hand luggage altogether and insisted even baby milk be tasted by an accompanying adult before being allowed on board.

An al Qaeda plot to blow up airliners with liquid explosives was uncovered as far back as 1995, but authorities have never previously banned the carrying of fluids onto planes.

That could change, perhaps for good, with the uncovering of this week's suspected Islamist militant plot to blow up planes with chemical bombs disguised as drinks.

Though police have given no further details, security analysts said there were indications they were concerned about militants setting off a liquid explosive such as nitroglycerin with some form of non-metal detonator, or combining otherwise harmless liquids on board a plane to produce an explosive mix.

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