Starting this Friday, 26 June 2026, passengers departing from Vienna International Airport (VIE) will no longer have to squeeze toiletries into 100-millilitre bottles or remove laptops at security. The airport has completed the conversion of all screening lanes to computed-tomography (CT) scanners, the same technology already used for checked baggage. The change follows an 18-month modernisation programme that cost about €35 million and brings Austria into line with the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and several Spanish hubs that have already relaxed the 2006 EU restrictions on carry-on liquids. The new scanners generate a full 3-D image of every item inside the cabin bag. Software is able to identify explosives in fluid, gel or powder form with far greater accuracy than the two-dimensional X-ray machines they replace. According to airport COO Julian Jäger, this allows the liquid limit to be raised to two litres per container and eliminates the need to remove electronics—cutting average checkpoint time for economy-class passengers from nine to under four minutes during trials. For Austrian carriers such as Austrian Airlines and low-cost operator Level, the faster throughput is expected to translate into higher punctuality and reduced staff overtime during the busy summer schedule. Travel-insurance brokers also note that the risk of missed connections—historically exacerbated by long security queues at the Schengen transfer pier—should fall. Corporate travel managers have already begun updating pre-trip advisories; Deloitte’s Vienna office estimates that its consultants collectively lose more than 600 billable hours each year to security bottlenecks. The relaxed rules apply only to point-of-origin passengers screened in Vienna.
![Vienna Airport scraps 100-ml liquid rule after roll-out of CT scanners]()
Needless to say, smoother security is only half the battle; many travellers still need to ensure they have the correct entry documents. VisaHQ can quickly tell you whether you require a visa for Austria and walk you through the entire application online, offering document checks, real-time status updates and courier options where needed. Check your requirements at https://www.visahq.com/austria/ before you head to the airport.
Travellers making a connecting flight elsewhere in the world must still comply with any local limits when re-entering security—something the airport is advertising on multilingual signage and its website. For now, double-walled bottles such as Thermos flasks must be empty, because the layers interfere with the scan. Vienna Airport is working with the Ministry of the Interior on a follow-up project that will allow remote risk-based screening for trusted-traveller lanes by mid-2027. In the bigger picture, aviation analysts see the move as a bellwether for Schengen-wide harmonisation. Germany and France plan to finish their own conversions by early 2027; once a critical mass of major hubs has switched, the European Commission is expected to revise Regulation (EC) 185/2010 to remove the 100-ml limit everywhere. Austria’s early adoption therefore positions the country as an innovation leader in passenger-security technology and could attract more long-haul traffic seeking smoother transfers within Europe.
Needless to say, smoother security is only half the battle; many travellers still need to ensure they have the correct entry documents. VisaHQ can quickly tell you whether you require a visa for Austria and walk you through the entire application online, offering document checks, real-time status updates and courier options where needed. Check your requirements at https://www.visahq.com/austria/ before you head to the airport.
Travellers making a connecting flight elsewhere in the world must still comply with any local limits when re-entering security—something the airport is advertising on multilingual signage and its website. For now, double-walled bottles such as Thermos flasks must be empty, because the layers interfere with the scan. Vienna Airport is working with the Ministry of the Interior on a follow-up project that will allow remote risk-based screening for trusted-traveller lanes by mid-2027. In the bigger picture, aviation analysts see the move as a bellwether for Schengen-wide harmonisation. Germany and France plan to finish their own conversions by early 2027; once a critical mass of major hubs has switched, the European Commission is expected to revise Regulation (EC) 185/2010 to remove the 100-ml limit everywhere. Austria’s early adoption therefore positions the country as an innovation leader in passenger-security technology and could attract more long-haul traffic seeking smoother transfers within Europe.
