To be forewarned is to be forearmed goes a popular saying that is very true but what happens when there is no prior warning to changes in security policies at airports or in aircrafts, etc? It is indeed very annoying and frustrating.

Nowadays, flying has become something of a big challenge to new and even long term flyers with regards to air travel security. With recent and emerging security threats to all airlines, the international air travel scene may not go to sleep for years to come. Therefore, we the passengers owe all airport and airline security personnel our unreserved patience and co-operation considering the delicate task given to them.

With the most recent airport security threat of August 2006 in Britain, which put more than a thousand lives on the line, local and international flights and all airports worldwide are once again on red alert. Despite the assured presence of airport security personnel and all the security equipment put in place, it is important to keep ourselves constantly informed of the ever-changing rules of airport security, restrictions, guidelines, dos and don’ts. This will go a long way in easing the jobs of the security staff manning the airports as well as save valuable time that will be lost to extra luggage checks.

As we keep track of regular changes to the airport security rules, public policies and general guidelines on airline security that may remain the same for a fairly long time are given below:

Be double-sure of your flight departure date and time. Sometimes, flights are cancelled at the last minute when there are new security risks that are suddenly discovered to constitute a security threat to the aircraft, airport or passengers.

In the light of the above, ensure that valid information about your contact home or office address and phone numbers are given so that any security information can be relayed to you on time; probably before you arrive the airport for serious security breaches. The United States Security Guidelines make this a requirement for all passengers.
The most recent major luggage policy added to the existing long list of forbidden items to carry now includes liquid items in hand luggage. These items are, but not limited to cosmetics, shampoo, toothpaste, can drinks, lotions, creams and gels. Sometimes we may forget little things like this but try to see that they are not costly stuff that cannot afford to be lost to the airport or airline security checks. Real necessities like medications or baby food maybe allowed at the discretion of airport security officials.

Only one hand luggage may be allowed on a flight per passenger.

In order to reduce security time checks, passengers can check with the airlines if there is provision for automated check-in kiosks. All-round security screening is available at these kiosks.

The use of biometric passports is a new airline security measure which entails storing biometric information of passengers like fingerprints, face and eye-scanned information in digital form on computer chips similar to smartcards. Developed countries like the United States and the United Kingdom have already started implementing the biometric passport facility for thorough and near flawless security checks.

This new technology is being seen as a revolutionary way of speeding up the check-in process for passengers while increasing airline security worldwide. Major airlines like Cathay Pacific and Emirates of Dubai are billed to join the list the airlines that have started adopting the technology. Experts opine that the biometric system of airline security checks are ripe at a time airport security is considered top priority.

Do not dress suspiciously like wear dark glasses, hoods covering the face, etc.

Passengers must not leave their belongings unattended. There have been cases of unscrupulous passengers stuffing prohibited items into fellow passengers’ luggages in order to get such materials to the airport and airline security.

Never play pranks or hoaxes on the airport or airline’s security personnel. Such scares put the whole airport on high alert. Government security agencies, airport and private airline security authorities immediately embark on extra security checks with such scares and only leads to more waste of time. Apart from this, hoaxers risk severe penalties by law.

Other prohibited items are flammable materials, weapon looking objects, firearms, pressurized containers, sharp objects, metals objects and so forth.

The list is endless for everyday air travel, local or international. Therefore passengers also need to stay current about airport and airline security rules. See you when you get there!