Government announce airport security changes
14.07.11
Passengers could be spared the chore of removing shoes, belts and having to unpack their laptops when they go through security at UK airports under measures to be announced today. The Telegraph reports that the 'sweeping changes' will give airports flexibility to use technology to carry out inspections that infuriate millions of people every day.
The newspaper says that, within Whitehall, there is a concern that airports are forced to go through a checklist of security measures by rote. This checklist, which demands a specified proportion of passengers remove their shoes and insist that all computers are removed from carry-on luggage, will be scrapped.
The new plans, which will be unveiled to MPs by Transport Secretary Philip Hammond, will encourage airports to invest in new screening devices to cut the time needed to get through to the departure lounge. Theresa Villiers, the aviation minister told the Telegraph: ‘What we are looking for is a better security outcome and we want this done in a more passenger-friendly way’
The proposals to streamline security will be unveiled by the Government at the same time as it publishes proposals to improve airport efficiency, drawn up by the South East Airports Taskforce, a body representing the industry and senior DfT officials established shortly after the election. Having ruled out building a third runway at Heathrow, the new Government set up the group, to make airports ‘better not bigger’.
Ministers have accepted its call for a trial overhaul of how Heathrow’s runways are used when flights are disrupted by, for example, bad weather or ash. The change would mean that instead of each runway being allocated for departures and the other for arrivals, one would be allowed to handle both to ease the backlog. Immigration will also be streamlined with greater co-operation between airports and the UK Border Agency, aimed at cutting the delays faced by passengers getting in the country.
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