Luggage limits to be lifted

Transport secretary Ruth Kelly is set to ease baggage restrictions for air travellers, according to reports.

Transport secretary Ruth Kelly plans to announce a relaxation in restrictions on the number of bags that passengers can carry on planes, reports claim.

According to the Financial Times, Ms Kelly will announce that travellers will be allowed to take two bags on flights in the new year.

A number of security alerts in 2006 prompted the introduction of strict rule which permitted only one piece of carry-on luggage per passenger.

Rules over liquids being taken onto planes were also imposed and these are expected to remain in place for the foreseeable future.

The baggage restrictions have been unpopular with air travellers and carriers since their introduction, with British Airways chief executive Willie Walsh claiming that they were "damaging the UK's reputation around the world from a business perspective".

A spokeswoman for the Department of Transport told the Guardian that the one-bag rule was under review but said that the government needs to be convinced that security can be maintained before lifting the restriction.

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