"Swiss authorities call for tighter airport security"

Friday, August 13, 2004

Authorities call for tighter airport security
swissinfo


The Swiss authorities have ordered airlines and in-flight catering
companies operating from the country's international airports to
overhaul their security policies.
 
The move comes less than three months after the Federal Office for Civil
Aviation (FOCA) discovered serious security lapses at Zurich airport. 

At the end of May undercover FOCA officials succeeded in smuggling a
fake bomb on to a plane by hiding it in a catering container waiting to
be transported on board.

Similar security tests were conducted simultaneously at Geneva airport.
 
Emergency measures
 
Revelations in the national press that airport staff had failed to
discover the fake device prompted the FOCA to issue emergency
instructions to airlines and in-flight catering companies to review
their security procedures.

On Friday the FOCA said that initial steps had already been taken to
improve security, but that more needed to be done over the next few
months.

It said that all necessary "additional measures" had to be in place by
the beginning of December.

"After this time, the FOCA will examine the measures that have been
taken to determine whether they are sufficient and will then verify
whether they are being put into practice by means of inspections," the
office said in a statement.
 
Restructuring
 
Last month the FOCA announced a radical shake-up in its organisational
structure in an effort to improve safety in the skies and on the ground.

The restructuring came in the wake of an independent report into
aviation security which concluded that safety levels in Switzerland were
in decline at the same time as they were improving in other parts of
Europe.

The aviation office's security and policy units are to be separated,
while the security section will be split into three subdivisions:
technical, flight operations and infrastructure.

In February parliament approved the hiring of an extra 60 members of
staff at the FOCA. Of the 230 experts at the office, 150 are expected to
work in the security domain.


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