Manchester Airport (MAN)
Manchester Airport liquid rules
Manchester Airport limits liquids in hand luggage to containers of 100ml or less. You don’t need a plastic bag, and liquids can stay in your bag at security. Containers you’ve filled yourself must have their capacity printed on them.
- Liquid container limit
- 100ml per container
- Liquids at the scanner
- Stay in your bag
- Clear plastic bag
- No clear bag needed
- Laptops and large electronics
- Not stated on the airport’s page
The printed-capacity rule
This is the Manchester detail most people miss. A small pot or bottle you’ve decanted shampoo into has to show its size — “100ml”, for example — printed or moulded on it. An unmarked container may not be accepted, however small it is. Check your travel bottles show their size before you fill them, or buy travel bottles with the size marked on Amazon UK (opens in a new tab) (paid link).
What 100ml means in practice
- The limit is the size of the container, not how much is left in it. The limit is on the size of the container, so it still applies if the container is only part full.
- Gels, pastes, creams, sprays and liquid foods count — see deodorant and food.
- Bigger bottles go in checked baggage.
Medicine, baby food and special diets
The GOV.UK exemptions apply at Manchester: essential medicines, food for special dietary requirements and baby food or milk can be in larger containers. Liquid medicine in a container over 100ml needs proof it is prescribed to you, such as a letter from your doctor or a copy of your prescription.
Check a container at Manchester
Not stated by Manchester
Manchester’s security page doesn’t say whether laptops and large electronics can stay in your bag, or whether metal bottles must be empty. Follow the instructions at your security lane.
Flying back into Manchester
Your return flight is screened at the airport you leave from. Some UK airports — Heathrow, Gatwick, Birmingham, Bristol and Edinburgh — allow larger containers, but that doesn’t help on the way out of Manchester. Pack to 100ml for the outbound leg and check your return airport separately.