Airport checks tightened after terror threat
05:46AM Fri 4 Jul, 2014
Dubai: Security is being tightened in airports across Europe and the Middle East with direct air flights to US destinations after intelligence reports from Washington’s agencies suggest that terrorists are plotting a new series of attacks on aviation targets.
The heightened security comes as US officials raised fears about militants in Syria and Yemen developing new forms of explosives that could be smuggled on to planes and that might pass the current set of tight security checks that were previously in place.
Officials in Washington who spoke on condition of anonymity suggested that footwear and personal electronics such as laptops, smartphones, tablets and video game consoles would be subjected to extra scrutiny as a result of the intelligence reports.
Late on Wednesday night, the UK’s Department for Transport said it would “step up some of our aviation security measures” following the warning from US security chiefs.
The transport secretary, Patrick McLoughlin, said: “We constantly keep the whole issue of aviation under constant review along with our international partners and also the aviation industry and obviously we have acted on advice and information that we have received.
“I would like to reassure the travelling public that we have one of the toughest security regimes in the world, along with the US.
“It’s very important that we take these measures to protect the travelling public and to ensure the travelling public have confidence that when we get information, we take the right measures and hopefully those right measures will reassure the public in their travels.”
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