China's aviation authority announced on Thursday that passengers were no longer allowed to take liquids onto domestic flights. The move was part of efforts to tighten security with the summer Olympics only five months away. The new measures came after a woman carrying a suspicious liquid attempting to crash a plane was caught en route from Urumqi to Beijing on a China Southern Airlines flight.

Staff would open up and check more hand baggage than before, the General Administration of Civil Aviation of China said. "Easy boarding" services, where passengers pay for the privilege of speedier security checks and priority boarding, would be banned. Safety was the top concern for aviation service, and any conveniences and services should center on passenger security, said an administration source. The administration urged every vehicle entering the airport's control zone to go through a safety check. All airlines must guarantee they do not carry checked-in luggage if the passenger failed to board. "We are confident we will be able to have a safe Olympics," said Sun Weide, a Beijing Organizing Committee for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad (BOCOG) spokesman, on Monday.

Li Jiaxiang, acting director of the General Administration of Civil Aviation of China, said safety precautions would definitely be tightened during the August Games. He called for the public's understanding of the extra inspection measures to be carried out at airports.

(Xinhua News Agency, March 14, 2008)