Airports ‘shouldn’t stand’ for US security rules
By politics.co.uk staff
The chairman of British Airways has described many of the stringent security checks for passengers heading to the US as “completely redundant”.
Martin Broughton raised concerns that more intrusive checks, including making passengers take off their shoes, should be scaled back – and implied US authorities were applying double standards in their approach to airport security.
The BA chairman was quoted by the Financial Times newspaper as telling the conference of the UK Airport Operators’ Association: “There’s quite a number of elements in the security programme which are completely redundant and they should be sorted out.”
Mr Broughton claimed that the US does not apply the same strict procedures on internal domestic flights as it does from those coming overseas.
He added: “America does not do internally a lot of the things they demand that we do. We shouldn’t stand for that.”
“We should say, ‘we’ll only do things which we consider to be essential and that you Americans also consider essential’.”
Security is heightened across the world since an alleged bomb plot at the beginning of the year. The UK’s threat level continues to be set at severe.
Although the government has made a theme of restoring civil liberties, there are no plans in the coalition’s programme to bring Mr Broughton’s suggestions into practice.
Airport security has been at its present high since the September 11 attacks, with more and more checks and procedures of passengers’ luggage and persons, including restrictions on liquids, separate screening of laptops and increased body searches introduced.
