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Italian Airport Waives Liquids Ban, But Only For Pesto

Italian Airport Waives Liquids Ban, But Only For Pesto

Passengers can carry up to 500g of pesto.

Anonymous

Anonymous

We live in a time when airport security is the tightest it's ever been. It takes longer than the duration of your holiday to get through customs and have your bag scanned, and as for bringing any more than 100ml of liquid with you - forget about it.

Well, that's the case in most airports, but one location in Italy has decided to waive that particular rule, as long as the liquid in question is delicious on pasta.

Genoa Cristoforo Colombo Airport launched the somewhat unimaginatively named 'Il pesto è buono' (Pesto is good) scheme on 1 June and since then more than 500 jars of the good stuff have made it out of the country.

The only catch (if you can really call it that) is that anyone wishing to take a container full of Italy's finest pesto home with them will have to make a donation to Flying Angels, an organisation that transports sick children abroad for treatment.

Pesto
Pesto

Credit: PA

According to the airport, the decision was made after staff were faced with 'hundreds of jars that were seized in airport security checks'.

Travellers can now bring jars of pesto, containing up to 500g in weight, as long as they obtain a special sticker for the price of around 44p. The pesto is then scanned by a special x-ray machine and taken onto the plane as hand luggage.

Since the scheme was launched, 500 jars have been flown off.

"We consider it an amazing result," airport press officer Nur El Gawohary told The Independent.

"Every year we were confiscating hundreds of pesto jars at security control, and throwing them away.

"It was a waste of food and an annoyance for our passengers. So we started to think about how we could allow people travelling with hand baggage only to take pesto with them."

pesto
pesto

Credit: PA

El Gawohary continued: "[Pesto is] one of the symbols of the city. Every Genoese family has their own recipe, and it's one of the most famous sauces in the world.

"To allow tourists to take it home in their hand luggage, as well as allowing Ligurians to bring it to friends and family when they visit them, is a way of serving our clients, helping Flying Angels, and promoting our Ligurian cuisine.

"It's true that you can buy pesto in the airport, but for the Genoese, traditional pesto - made at home or by your favourite company - has a special value. Every family has their own recipe, and to be able to take pesto made by your mother or grandmother as a gift is really something that we felt important.

"The first people to thank us were Genoese kids studying abroad - lots of them in the UK. They always travel without checking a bag, so to be able to take their mama's pasta home to London and get their friends to taste it has been something they really appreciate."

News: BBC, The Independent

Words: Paddy Maddison

Featured Image Credit: Flickr/Katrin Gilger (Creative Commons)