"BAA plans airport terminal security overhaul to cut terror alert queues"

Monday, October 23, 2006

BAA plans airport terminal security overhaul to cut terror alert queues 
By Dan Milmo
United Kingdom - The Guardian 


Britain's main airports are expected to undergo a major overhaul in an
attempt to banish the queues that crippled the world's busiest international
flight hub in August.

BAA - the owner of Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted, as well Scotland's three
largest airports - is understood to be drawing up plans to expand the
security checking areas that became clogged with passengers in the aftermath
of the terror scare. This includes more security lanes, as well as making
security areas deeper in order to accommodate larger queues.

The expanded operation will require extra scanning equipment and metal
detector arches. But security experts said BAA's highest priority must be
the hiring of security personnel - security checking lanes were closed
during the August chaos due to lack of staff, while thousands of passengers
queued to enter the departure lounges. Norman Shanks, former head of
security at BAA, said the key issue "is not the lack of equipment, but the
lack of people to man it".

One of the biggest drains on security staff is the requirement that 50% of
passengers are subjected to a "pat-down search", described by employees as
the equivalent of doing multiple squat thrusts in 30-minute bursts.

Following an internal inquiry into the Heathrow operation, in the wake of
the terror alert, BAA has started recruiting hundreds more staff to its
4,000-strong Heathrow payroll. It is understood that the overhaul of
terminals at six of its seven airports is driven by guidance from the
Department for Transport that the stringent security arrangements are in
place for the long-term.

There is also a grim assumption that the security crackdown on August 10 -
when all hand luggage and liquids were banned - will happen again and BAA
wants to have the extra capacity to cope. A BAA spokesman said: "We are
reviewing all aspects of our security operation post-August 10, and are
looking at all areas."

The prospect of a rebuilding programme comes as the aviation regulator - the
Civil Aviation Authority - is drawing up a new price regime for airlines
using BAA's three London airports.

Airlines which paid BAA £893m in landing fees last year argue that it is an
inefficient monopoly that does not need any increased fees to bolster its
security operations.

BAA counters that no business could have coped with the 400% increase in
workload caused by the sudden increase in security regulations, which led to
the near-breakdown of operations at both Heathrow and Stansted.

The cost of hiring new security staff at Heathrow alone will be at least
£4m, but any budgetary impact from the airport overhaul will not necessarily
be passed on to airlines, and then passengers through ticket price
increases.

The CAA pricing regime, which is due to be reset for 2008-13, contains
clauses to cover increased security costs: if the annual bill rises above
£23m because of exceptional circumstances, BAA can invoice airlines for
three-quarters of the overrun.

Despite airlines' concerns over the efficiency of BAA, the CAA is
considering giving the company greater "flexibility" in its charges, so it
can cope better with another terror alert.

As part of its deliberation for setting the 2008-13 landing fees, the
regulator has asked the airport operator to assess how much financial
contingency it needs for sudden increases in security.

Under the current regime, any increase in the fees that BAA charges airlines
for using Heathrow is capped at the rate of inflation plus 6.5%. Charges for
Stansted and Gatwick are capped at inflation.

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