BAA confirms tightened security at Heathrow

Heathrow Airport will install full-body scanners that can see under passengers’ clothing as soon as possible, it was confirmed this weekend.

BAA, the airport operator that owns Heathrow along with six other major UK airports, made the announcement after Gordon Brown gave the go-ahead for the controversial technology.

The Prime Minister had promised a “gradual” introduction of the scanners in response to the Detroit terror scare, in which a man smuggled explosives through Amsterdam Schiphol Airport.

Officials at the Dutch base committed to installing the technology last week, prompting Cheapflights to predict that the UK would follow suit shortly.

Within 48 hours of making that forecast, Prime Minister Brown had appeared on BBC1’s Andrew Marr show to confirm that all British airports will install full-body scanners. He also unveiled an urgent review of airline security in response to what he described as a “new type of threat”.

Speaking after Mr Brown made his remarks, a spokesman for BAA said: “Now that the government has given the go-ahead, we will introduce full body scanners as soon as practical.

“It is our view that a combination of technology, intelligence and passenger profiling will help build a more robust defence against the unpredictable and changing nature of the terrorist threat to aviation.”

BAA owns and operates seven UK airports that handle 92 per cent of travellers to and from the London area. Heathrow’s decision to rapidly roll out the full-body scanners, which cost £100,000 each, illustrates the airport’s commitment to maximising security for passengers at any cost.

Civil liberty campaigners had complained that the machines are tantamount to a “strip search” as they penetrate clothing, but proponents insist the threat justifies the privacy infringement.

Full-body scanners were already on trial at Manchester Airport prior to the failed Detroit terror attack, and had previously been tested at Heathrow between 2004 and 2008. They are already in place at 19 airports across the US, including major hubs such as New York JFK and Los Angeles LAX.

© Cheapflights Ltd (Creative Commons image: Fingalo / Wikimedia)

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