Durham Tees Valley Airport boss says private jet passengers were checked
17.10.11
Durham Tees Valley Airport, which is at the centre of fears over a lack of border checks, has said that all passengers using the hub are properly monitored. Leaked emails suggest some UK Border Agency staff are concerned passengers on private jets have not been properly handled at the airport, but a spokesman said all incoming passengers underwent ‘appropriate checks’.
The leaked documents appeared to showed passengers on private jets were able to enter the UK via Durham Tees Valley without being seen by border officials, raising fears among staff that security was being compromised. In the emails, one UK Border Agency official complained to managers about not even being ‘allowed to physically see the passengers’, saying it was ‘at odds with national policy’. They said it was ‘creating an unnecessary gap in border security’.
But Durham Tees Valley Airport manager Shaun Woods told the BBC: ‘I want people to know that any suggestion passengers or crew could pass through the airport without undergoing the appropriate checks required by the UK Border Agency is plain wrong. The Border Agency does have arrangements in place that allow for what are known as general aviation activities - basically private flights - to seek pre-arrival checks for crew and passengers in certain circumstances.'
‘This requires detailed information to be provided well in advance of a flight arriving at the airport, including the name, nationality, date of birth and passport or national identity card details. This can only be applied to passengers or crew from the European Union or European Economic Area.'
‘Any passengers or crew from countries outside the EU or EEA must undergo standard arrival checks and the Border Agency has the discretion at any time to require any or all passengers and crew to undergo standard checks.’To book a durham tees valley airport hotels or durham tees valley airport parking at the lowest price click on these links to durham tees valley airport parking and durham tees valley airport hotel price comparison websites.
