The lifting of hand-baggage restrictions will initially apply only to first- and business-class passengers, The Sunday Times has learnt. Last week, the transport secretary, Ruth Kelly, announced that rules restricting passengers to just one item of hand baggage would be lifted in the new year, provided that airports succeed in convincing the Department for Transport (DfT) that security would not be compromised.

But the airports operator BAA has admitted that, out of its seven airports, only Heathrow will have sufficient equipment and manpower in place for the January 7 deadline – and even then, only partially so.

Sources at BAA have indicated that priority will be given to fast-track security channels, allowing first- and business-class passengers to benefit from the lifting of hand-baggage restrictions. But fears over long queues and increased delays mean that the one-bag rule will remain in place for passengers travelling in economy for considerably longer.

The government has become increasingly frustrated with BAA’s failure to make the necessary investment to cut security queues, and the operator has, in turn, blamed the DfT. Last August, it told The Sunday Times that both the technology and the manpower were in place to cope with a relaxation of hand-baggage restrictions, but that the final decision lay with the DfT.

Now, though, with restrictions set to be lifted within seven weeks, calls to BAA’s other airports, at Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Gatwick, Glasgow, Southampton and Stansted, have revealed that not one will have sufficient staff or equipment in place to ease restrictions on any more than a strictly limited basis. Luton airport, under separate ownership, said it “could neither confirm nor deny” that it would be ready.

British Airways has consistently lobbied the government for a lifting of restrictions for its premium passengers, but refused to confirm its plans for the new year. “We’re still deep in negotiations with the DfT over the exact details of the announcement,” BA said. “But whether the lifting of hand-baggage restrictions is universal or part of a phased roll-out is down to the airport operators, not us.”

“Our ideal would be that all passengers, regardless of travel class, were treated the same,” Virgin said, “but we wouldn’t want that to impact on queues.”

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