BELGIUM: Air industry says new security measures are hugely expensive and calls on member states to foot the bill, not passengers

The European airline industry said the cost of extra security on planes would be huge and has called on member states to foot the bill. Security experts are meeting in Brussels on Wednesday (September 6) to discuss new security measures on airlines and at airports following the alleged UK plot involving liquid explosives and small detonators. They are considering banning liquids on planes across the European Union airlines as well as hand luggage. European Airline Association Francoise Humbert said that was unrealistic. "Prohibiting all liquids on board we see as unrealistic. People need to have something to travel overnight with them. They need to have their toothpaste or what ever it is and what we would recommend is a limited quantity of liquid, a very small quantity. But for example you might need to travel with medication, liquid medication, so this kind of thing should be allowed. As for the size of cabin luggage we would recommend following the IATA standards, something that still allows you to have a trolley bag with you on board," Humbert said. She also said the cost of implementing high security measures to the industry would go into millions of euros. A major European airline she declined to name has calculated that it would add more than 7 million euros to their annual bill. Multiplied by all the other airlines the real cost could have major implications for the final price of a plane ticket. "The cost implications of these security measures is absolutely huge to the European airline industry. One of our major airlines has calculated that if all the measures imposed by the United States are maintained at European level it would cost them 7.5 billion euros a year. Million (she corrects herself), but still. 7.5 million euros a year its enormous," Humbert said. British experts have already passed on the results of their security investigations to their European counterparts at the end of August. The 25-nation European bloc will this week try to come up with a decision which can be applied to the whole of the EU. Banning liquids is under consideration yet once in the plane it is deemed practically impossible to explode them since they have to be put into contact with a detonator. Security machines which control baggage destined for the luggage compartment are better than those used for hand luggage but they cost a lot more and their installation would force airports to change their configuration - a long and time consuming process. Furthermore, forbidding all liquids on planes would also put an end to the sale of duty free perfume and alcohol on board which represents one third of airports' turnover. Humbert says the alleged attacks are not aimed at airports or airlines but at states and argues that therefore the EU government should foot the bill should they introduce new stricter security measures. "Well for the moment, who's paying for these security measures? Airlines and airports. Some of this can be passed on to the passenger through security surcharge. But its very very small. So its mainly the airlines who are picking up the bill. Airlines and airports. And that's why we're asking for member states to recognise that the threat was against them and that passengers should not pay and that airlines and the air transport industry should not pay. They should pay a small part of the cost but member states should finance a great deal, " Humbert says. Experts meeting in Brussels today are trying to determine how much liquid explosive would be needed to seriously damage a plane and how it can be activated inside the aircraft. British experts had said last August that the liquids could be carried inside secondary bottles suggesting that the amount needed is fairly minimal. The EU will also look at the use of portable computers as potential means of activating or detonating an explosion.

ITN Source | September 7, 2006

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