Originally Posted by
wco81
They confiscated my 4 ounce bottle of saline, mostly empty, for my ath-zrh flight.
When I pointed out it was almost empty, they said the container is the problem, that 3.4 oz is the limit. I've never run into a problem with a 4 oz bottle at any airport worldwide. In fact the company markets the 4 oz bottles as approved for carry on.
I have taken ATH-JMK flight and CHQ-ATH flights with nobody saying a peep about the bottle.
Then they make you take out my DSLR and extra lens and iPads too. What ever happened to most airports not requiring iPads to be taken out?
Worst of all, the lounges are outside security so you have to allow time for the hassles of getting through security.
The international liquids limit is 100ml (where a limit exists), and of course the USA is the only country on earth that still uses oz. as a liquid measure. The US TSA converts the 100ml to 3.4oz and this is what appears on their website as the maximum permitted size. So whoever sold you a 4oz bottle has mislead you and you have been lucky to avoid confiscation before now, including when leaving the USA.
The fact that other security checkpoints have failed to spot the size irregularity simply means that nobody has actually looked at the writing on the container before, it would be hard to tell otherwise.
Did you do something to annoy the security staff at ATH, perhaps by loudly complaining that they wanted to scan your Ipad separately, which provoked an extra-close examination as they thought you had something to hide?
If your trip to ZRH was very recent, were you not aware of the "military coup" in next-door Turkey? Wouldn't any sensible country go to a heightened state of alert and intensify security checks until the situation stabilised? Those who travel frequently in Europe are used to the ever-changing requirements at security checkpoints. Part of the idea is that it prevents would-be terrorists from knowing precisely what will be checked on the day they pass through the airport.
Oh, and the lounges. On the extra-Schengen side they have introduced centralised security and the lounges are now after security. The domestic and intra-Schengen side is currently being remodelled, lets see what results.