Originally Posted by
Timfid
As I posted elsewhere a while ago, at ATH passengers were prohibited from taking empty plastic water bottles through security. We had some totally empty small plastic mineral water bottles which we hoped we could fill up with water from a drinking fountain airside, and they were confiscated!
"No empty bottles" is an EU-wide rule - not just ATH.
As for the wider issue - I agree that it is absolutely essential that air travellers are given an opportunity to obtain water to take on board (especially for long-haul flights), and I think there ought to be a world-wide rule requiring airports to give passengers that opportunity - either by selling water after security (i.e., at the gate if the security checkpoint is at the gate), or by selling it in tamper-proof bags (as happens at Schiphol). I can't think of any reason why duty free shops could NOT sell water - so why don't they?