At Bristol Airport, a small set of items are banned from flying altogether (explosives, flammable gases, corrosives, incapacitating sprays and firearms-type weapons), while a longer list is banned only from hand luggage but allowed in the hold, including knives, tools with a blade or point, and liquids over 2 litres per container. Bristol's security rules follow the UK Civil Aviation Authority's national list, applied at Bristol's own checkpoint with its CT scanners. Checked against Bristol Airport's own security and baggage guidance and the CAA's official restricted-items pages, November 2026.
Items banned everywhere, cabin or hold
These cannot go on the aircraft at all, in any bag:
- Explosives, fireworks and flares
- Flammable gases and liquids (other than in the quantities permitted for personal toiletries/medicines under dangerous goods rules)
- Oxidisers and organic peroxides
- Corrosives, such as acids and alkalis, beyond the small permitted quantities for things like car battery fluid
- Toxic or infectious substances
- Compressed gas cylinders (other than small permitted exceptions, such as a single small canister for a mobility aid, agreed with your airline in advance)
- Incapacitating sprays, such as mace, pepper spray or tear gas
- Radioactive material
Individual airports, including Bristol, keep the discretion to confiscate anything staff consider dangerous even if it isn't on a published list, so a borderline item can still be stopped at the tray point.
Items banned from hand luggage, but allowed in checked (hold) baggage
These aren't banned from flying, just from the cabin. Pack them in your hold case instead:
- Knives and blades of any length, including round-bladed items like butter knives in some cases, and cutlery sets
- Scissors with blades longer than 6cm from the pivot
- Tools that are sharp or could be used as a weapon, such as screwdrivers, drills and saws over 6cm
- Sporting bats, clubs and similar equipment (cricket bats, baseball bats, golf clubs)
- Darts
- Catapults
- Realistic replica or toy guns
- Snow globes and similar liquid-filled novelty items over the standard liquid container limit
See our dedicated guide to flying with golf clubs, skis or a bike from Bristol if you're travelling with sports equipment specifically.
Liquids: the 2-litre rule
Bristol Airport's CT scanners mean the old 100ml liquids limit no longer applies: containers up to 2 litres each are allowed in hand luggage, with no clear plastic bag required. Very large containers beyond that are still hand-luggage only in the sense that they must go in the hold instead. See our full liquids rule guide for exactly what counts as a liquid and how this compares with other UK airports.
Batteries, power banks and e-cigarettes: cabin baggage only
This is the reverse of the knives rule: these items must travel in the cabin, not the hold, because of fire risk:
- Spare lithium batteries and power banks
- E-cigarettes and vapes
- Devices with lithium batteries that aren't installed in the device itself
Bristol Airport's own guidance is explicit: always keep vapes and power banks with you in the cabin, and never pack them in checked luggage, since a damaged lithium cell can overheat and start a fire that's far harder to detect and fight in the hold. See our vapes, e-cigarettes and power banks guide for quantity limits and charging them airside.
Items that need your airline's approval first
A few categories aren't simply banned or allowed; they depend on your airline agreeing in advance:
- Firearms designed for sporting use, unloaded and declared, in the hold only
- Ammunition, up to 5kg per person, in the hold only, for certain classifications
- Some medical equipment with batteries or gas canisters, such as CPAP machines or oxygen concentrators
- Mobility scooters and wheelchairs with spillable or non-standard batteries
Contact your airline before you travel if any of these apply to you; see our guide to flying with a CPAP machine, oxygen or a mobility scooter from Bristol for the detail.
Commonly asked about, but actually allowed
A few items travellers often assume are banned, but aren't:
- Solid food, including sandwiches, fruit and baked goods: allowed through security in hand luggage without restriction. See our food through security guide.
- Empty water bottles: allowed through security and can be refilled airside.
- A guitar or small musical instrument: allowed as hand luggage if it fits your airline's cabin bag size limit. See our musical instruments guide.
- Laptops and electronics: can stay inside your bag at the Bristol checkpoint, since CT scanners removed the old "laptops out" step.
Check before you fly
Airlines can apply their own stricter rules on top of the UK national list, and country-specific rules may apply at your destination or on a connection. Before you travel, check Bristol Airport's own security page and the CAA's official restricted items guidance for the current position, and contact your airline directly if you're carrying anything on this page that needs approval.