Gone are the days when you had to remove your laptops, tablets and liquids from handbags for security screening at airports. The Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS), on an experimental basis, has now given permission to the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) for checking passengers' handbags at Delhi and Mumbai airports without making them take out their laptop and liquid items.

"On an experimental basis, BCAS has allowed handbag scanners where laptops, liquids item not to be taken out at Delhi and Mumbai airport for security check," BCAS DG Rajesh Chandra told ANI.

However, concerned agencies of BCAS and CISF will take the final decision in this regard after proof of concept is cleared by all agencies.

If implemented on a permanent basis, this project will lend a hand to both passengers and security forces in saving time and ease up the security procedure.

Meanwhile, Fliers to and from Delhi will have to shell out more as the closure of one of the three runways and high travel demand over the weekend have spiked fares by around 86 %, claimed an e-commerce travel website.

On Friday evening, several travel portals showed a sharp rise in spot airfares.

While a Delhi-Bengaluru ticket on normal days costs Rs 11,044, for Saturday it cost Rs 13,702 on average, according to flight data of ixigo.

One travelling to Mumbai from the national capital on Saturday would have to spend Rs 11,060 as against Rs 9,228 on normal days.

There was an increase in fares from Delhi to Mumbai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Chennai and other destinations for the next one week, especially (November 16-19) due to the closure of one of three operational runways for repair.

Runway 27/09 has been closed for repairs for 13 days at the Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA), operated by DIAL. IGIA is the busiest aerodrome in the country and has three runways.

Its closure will lower the capacity of IGI Airport by 50 arrivals and 50 departures per day in this duration.

(With inputs from ANI)