UK airports operator BAA is planning to expand its security areas to avoid a repeat of the extended disruption to travellers caused by August’s security alerts.
Plans include more security lanes and deeper security areas to accommodate larger queues. The company, which owns Heathrow, Gatwick, Stansted and Scotland’s three largest airports, also intends to invest in additional scanning equipment and metal detector arches.
Following the August backlog, BAA is reported to be hiring more staff at Heathrow. At the time, some security lanes were not used because of a shortage of staff. Guidance from the Department for Transport that the stringent security arrangements are in place for the long-term is understood to be driving the over-haul.
BAA is assuming summer’s security alert, when all hand luggage and liquids were banned from flights, will be repeated. A BAA spokesman said: “We are reviewing all aspects of our security operation post-August 10, and are looking at all areas.”
The August security alert sparked a war of words between airlines and BAA. They argued that because they pay £893m in landing fees to the authority, it should have been able to cope with the security demand. BAA said that no business could be expected could have coped with the 400% increase in work load caused by the new security regulations without creating a backlog.