WASHINGTON, DC – Airline passengers will likely be able to carry large bottles of liquids on airplanes some time next year, the Transportation Security Administration says.

The TSA expects by next fall to lift restrictions that limit passengers to carrying 3-ounce bottles of liquids, gels and aerosols in airplane cabins, agency chief Kip Hawley said on the agency's website. Passengers would still have to remove liquids from carry-on bags at airport checkpoints and put them through X-ray machines separately.

"That's a major milestone for security," TSA spokesman Christopher White said Monday. "We're confident it's going to happen in 2009."

By the end of 2010, passengers should be able to keep liquids as they go through checkpoints, Hawley wrote in his blog, posted on Friday.

The restrictions are also likely to be eased in airports of other countries that adopted similar liquid restrictions two years ago after authorities disrupted an alleged plot to bomb trans-Atlantic flights with liquid-based explosives, Hawley wrote.

The changes are expected because better technology will enable checkpoint X-ray machines to spot dangerous liquids. X-ray machines currently can't tell the difference between harmless fluids and explosives. That forces the TSA to limit passengers to 3 ounces of liquid or less — an amount that, even if explosive, would not be enough to bring down an airplane.

Business fliers will be relieved to carry toothpaste tubes larger than 3 ounces, said Bill Connors, executive director of the National Business Travel Association. "It's just a little baby step toward slightly more convenience," he said.

Easing the restrictions could also speed up security lines, said Kevin Mitchell, chairman of the Business Travel Coalition.

Copyright 2008 USA Today. All rights reserved. From http://www.usatoday.com. By Thomas Frank.
To view the Internet Travel Monitor Archive, click http://www.tripinfo.com/ITM/index.html.