What you can take through security at Gatwick

It’s essential to know what you can take through security at Gatwick because you can lose a lot of expensive items – if they are confiscated!

Here’s how you get through security without a drama…

#1 Have your boarding pass ready for security to scan.  Not your passport!  You won’t need that until later.

#2 Make sure all your liquid toiletries are in one transparent, re-sealable plastic bag ready to be X-rayed.  The bag needs to be 20cm x 20cm.  Inside goes all your aerosols, creams, pastes (like tooth paste), gels and sprays.

#3 Make sure all your liquid toiletries are in containers of 100ml/100g or less in size – otherwise be prepared to lose them!

#4 Take your iPad, laptop or any other large electronic devices out of your hand baggage, ready to be x-rayed separately.

#5 Remove your coat, jacket and belt. These items will need to be x-rayed in the tray with your bag.

#6 Be prepared, in case you’re asked to remove your shoes before going through the security arch.

What you can NOT take through security and on board the aircraft on all Gatwick flights

Liquids, creams, gels and pastes in containers over 100ml (total must fit into a 20cm x 20cm bag provided)

Sharp items including scissors

Razor blades (razors that have the blade set into a plastic moulding are allowed in hand baggage, but other types are not)

Knives with blades of any length

Hypodermic needles (unless required for medical reasons, for which proof will be required)

Tools (including multi-tools and penknives)

Catapults

Walking/hiking poles

Sporting bats

Darts

Billiard, snooker or pool cues

Flammable liquids and solids

Oxidisers such as bleaching powders

Organic peroxides

Tear gas devices or any gas cylinders

Infectious substances such as live virus materials

Wet-cell car batteries

Magnetrons

Instruments containing mercury e.g. some thermometers

Instruments containing magnets

Fireworks

Toy/replica guns (metal or plastic)

Non-safety matches

Firelighters, lighter fuel, paints or thinners

Poisons, arsenic, cyanide or weed killer

Radioactive materials, acids, corrosives, alkalis or caustic soda

Creosote, quicklime or oiled paper

Vehicle fuel system parts which have contained fuel

Party poppers

Acids

Poisons

Flammable liquids

Explosives

Matches or lighters (except on your person)

Bleach

Incapacitating sprays

Ignitable gas devices

Compressed gas

Compressed air

Does Gatwick Airport provide plastic bags?

Yes… The 20 x 20cm bags are available for FREE, just outside the Gatwick security areas.

Checking in at Gatwick

New Security Rules on certain routes

The US-UK ban on selected electronic devices from the passenger cabins of flights from some countries in North Africa and the Middle East was partly prompted by a previously undisclosed plot involving explosives hidden in a fake iPad.

The UK ban on tablets, laptops, games consoles and other devices larger than a mobile phone came into effect in April 2017.

It applies to inbound flights from six countries…

1. Egypt
2. Jordan
3. Lebanon
4. Saudi Arabia
5. Tunisia
6. and Turkey.

Six UK airlines – British Airways, EasyJet, Jet2, Monarch, Thomas Cook and Thomson – and eight foreign carriers are affected.

It follows a similar move in the US, which applies to flights from 10 airports in eight countries – Jordan, Egypt, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Morocco, Qatar, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates.

Article by Springwood Gatwick (Great value accommodation with on-site holiday parking)