“
...the Government Olympic Executive office responsible for the London Games’ funding, has already seen security costs rise to £1.5 billion, with still two years to go until the big event...”
enforced as the Games will be held in July and August, also being the time when the economy-boosting boom of summer season holidaying occurs in the UK. International tourists and Games spectators will pass through the major hubs of Heathrow, Gatwick, Stansted and London City Airport, the latter being just two miles from the Olympic Park.
London City Airport Chief Executive
Richard Gooding has stated “In the run-up to the 2012 Olympics we are redeveloping security facilities to streamline Olympic visitors. An
additional floor is currently being added to the existing passenger terminal in order to achieve this.” Stansted Airport already anticipates 100,000 extra passengers before, during and after both the Olympic and Paralympic Games, and is prepared for “an influx of unusual sporting baggage such as swords, firearms and specialist equipment” from those participating in the Olympics. Julia Gregory, Stansted’s Head of Transport, Planning and Policy said, during a training session for airport companies and organisations, “We very early on identified that the equipment that comes through the airport will be different to what our employees are used to seeing.” She also mentioned “a lot of the athletes are letting us screen their equipment, so that we can have the images that have gone through the X-ray screen. Part of that will be reproduced in a training package for all of our staff here." Heathrow East, an ongoing project meant to replace two of the airport’s oldest terminals with a more modern, environmentally-friendly model is ultimately expected to provide the latest security measures as well as a larger presence from the Metropolitan Police Service, the city’s leading security agency, which is already increasing its
It is hoped that the only weapons that will be visible at the 2012 Olympics ar e those intended for competition
55,000 force in preparation for the country’s largest security operation in years. The new building’s first phase was hoped to be finished in time for the Games, though latest reports indicate it being a near impossible goal. Meanwhile BAA, which owns and operates six British airports, has brought in retina scanners using the Iris Recognition Immigration System (IRIS), a voluntary programme said to permit fast entry into the country. Once a passenger participates in the scan and their iris pattern is recorded and stored, they are free to go through retina scan booths at any UK immigration station - provided the booths are working! Other biometric systems, such as fingerprint scanners, have had previous positive results, though efforts will need to be stepped up to prevent fraud as in the case last year of a South Korean woman who effortlessly entered Japan after previous deportation, through circumventing their finger scanners by putting a special tape on her fingers and using a fake passport. South Korean police have busted several fake fingerprint rings and arrested people selling fake fingerprints to those looking to enter Japan illegally. Reports have also been made regarding particularly inventive passengers, or those who’ve tuned into television shows and movies detailing the practice, who’ve surgically altered their fingerprints by having them removed or filed down with new fingerprints stitched on. After the failed attack aboard an Amsterdam to Detroit flight last Christmas, Heathrow installed the highly controversial full-body scanners. While these scanners wouldn’t be used on arriving passengers and therefore add little, if nothing to national security, a BAA spokesperson told Reuters: “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 against aviation.”
Chanize Thorpe is a New York-based writer and editor specialising in travel and consumer interest features.
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www.asi-mag.com June 2010 Aviationsecurityinternational
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