Police believe criminals are slipping through the security net at airports. Picture: John Grainger Source: HWT Image Library
ELECTRONIC tickets and automatic baggage check-ins could be banned and non-passengers barred from entering terminals under an airport security crackdown.
A raft of strict new security measures are being thrashed out by federal authorities worried about the ease at which criminal gangs and drug smugglers move through airports undetected.
Among the changes being considered for domestic airports are compulsory passenger identity checks, and even a national ID card.
Police told a federal parliamentary committee that drug-runners are exploiting lax airport security, using fake IDs to buy air tickets and smuggle drugs from Sydney to Melbourne.
Authorities believe criminals are slipping under the radar because airlines do not conduct compulsory identification checks.
Committee chairman Senator Steve Hutchins said there was concern over the growth of e-ticketing and the lack of scrutiny once tickets were issued. "We were surprised at the rapid development of this innovation in air travel and the misuse of it by organised crime figures," Senator Hutchins said.
On the issue of introducing a national ID card, Senator Hutchins said it was important to know the identity of each passenger - which currently was largely not happening.
"There will be no national identity system without the full support of the Coalition, and on every occasion when that has been presented to them they have refused to co-operate," he said.
"We are talking about identification of the passenger who purchased the ticket being the bum on the seat and that is what the police force, law-enforcement agencies and other bodies have highlighted as a gap in our domestic airport security."
Any opportunity that may close that loophole must be investigated by any federal agency that has the power to do so."
Electronic check-in machines allow passengers to bypass scrutiny as it is possible to check in from a computer or smartphone, print your own boarding pass and check-in your baggage without being asked for official identification. The Australian Federal Police Association is critical of electronic check-in and recommends the Federal Government close this security loophole immediately.
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