Keeping airports safe from a distance

The recent attack at the check-in area of Brussel-Zaventem Airport that serves the Belgian capital of Brussels, has given birth to a lot of concerns. There are many issues that need to be addressed when it comes to the ‘landside’ security in India.

The airports in India boast of best international qualities and standards, when it comes to infrastructure. Right from management to the services, airports like Indira Gandhi International Airport, New Delhi, and Rajiv Gandhi International Airport, Hyderabad, are a testimony of the same. But are the people who visit airports in India safe?

There are two types of security apparatus that need to be addressed at airports namely, landside security and airside security. Airside security starts when you go past the security check, and go through the hallway to the gates, from there to the tarmac through the aerobridge and into the plane — all this airside security has reasonably taken off. Everything going into the plane, including the passengers, is screened — food, luggage, personnel — the plane is checked and sanitised.

Landside areas include parking lots, public transportation train stations and access roads, usually till the check-in area. This area, especially in case of India, is easily accessible and completely unsanitised, except for the Sheikh ul Alam International Airport, Srinagar.

At the Bandaranaike International Airport, Colombo, the security protocol makes airline passengers disembark from their private vehicles 500 meters before they enter the airport, and board an airport shuttle, after a security frisking. The airport shuttle is sanitised for any explosives and has a security detail in accompaniment to neutralise any potential bomb/hijack threat. The Srinagar Airport also follows similar security protocols.

At Kempegowda International Airport, Bengaluru, like other airports in Metro cities, airline passengers do not undergo security checks till they enter the terminal area where potential terrorists have scope to explode bombs and cause immense harm. The security checks begin well after they enter the terminal and only before they enter the airside of the airport terminal. To that extent, the landside of the airport is vulnerable to terror threats. So what is it that saves us from implementing the Srinagar/Colombo airport model?

Because of the stringent security checks on the airside, terrorists will not hijack planes, is a theory of most security experts. “The security at our airports is aircraft-oriented. There is a mindset that this lets us keep aircraft safe and we forget about other things,” says Air Marshall B K Pandey. Pandey also adds that cost is one of the reasons that has led to preventing the government to replicate landside security apparatus, as put in place in Srinagar.

“Technology can be an option. Except for being walled, we also need sensors, that can improve and help detect possible threats,” advises Pandey. He also emphasises on security techiniques being changed, emulating Israel model.

“We need to realise that an armed gaurd alerts the terrorist, who can resort to snatching his gun, as happened in Udhampur in 2015. The guard always needs to be unarmed, and should be provided cover from a distance,” opines Pandey.

“India’s aviation security has improved over the past 10-20 years. But that doesn’t mean that we are not vulnerable. We do need upgradation,” says Sanat Kaul, Chairman, International Foundation for Aviation, Aerospace and Development (India Chapter). Kaul also appreciates the kind of security protocol followed at the Colombo Airport. “Colombo Airport, along with having a checkpoint 500 metres before the airport, also has a mudwall. So, in case the explosives get off, the mudwall will prevent the magnitude of casualities,” adds Kaul.

Kaul further adds that this system is needed in India, but cost is a constraint. “The security of the people is paramount. We need to shift more towards technology. We also need emphasis on peripheral security. But along with the installation cost, we also need to realise that it has maintainance that needs to be borne,” opines Kaul.

Helpful, yet inconvenient

Omar Abdullah, former Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir, is of a different opinion. “Yes, indeed it has helped prevent attack,” he says. In January 2001, a six-member Lashkar-e-Toiba suicide squad tried to storm the Srinagar Airport. But due to the stringent landside security, the bid was foiled. In June 2007, Glasgow aborted a bombing by Kafeel Ahmed, who got radicalised in the UK. “Ahmed crashed the vehicle loaded with explosives. He wanted to crash the terminal and explode it, but didn’t succeed with his Iraqi counterpart. Therefore, the terminal can be crashed by car, two-wheeler or a pedestrian,” according to Juval Aviv, a Mossad agent.

But Abdullah goes on to add, “We have to realise that such a kind of security apparatus in place at Srinagar Airport is due to a different reason. We have been facing terror threats on a daily basis.”

He also highlights the inconvenience caused by such protocols. “Plus this kind of security apparatus is causing a lot of inconvenience to the passengers here. So, in case of larger cities, which handle larger number of travellers, it won’t be feasible. But the point is, along with being a civilian airport, it also serves defence. So this kind of apparatus is needed here,” says Abdullah, adding, “Just because there was an attack in Brussels doesn’t mean that we need to panic here. We should not forget that we have been facing terrorism much before it surfaced in Europe, and we have been handling it efficiently.”

The concerns about landside security is expressed by Rajiv Chib, Director, Aerospace and Defence at PriceWaterhouse Coopers. “If you were to ask someone today, what they expect from airport security, you would receive a considerably different response than if you had asked the same question six months ago,” says Chib.

“There is considerable debate now of moving the security cordon outside the airport and further away from the check-in. However, a balance has to be met between the extent of security and passenger convenience,” he added. He also opines that the long queues of vehicles and people may just move a vulnerable point elsewhere, rather than eliminating risk.

Chib goes on to add, “The first priority should be an integrated command, control and communication centre in the airport, which leverages the telecommunications infrastructure and is designed to integrate CCTVs, Access Control, Intrusion Detection, Digital Video Recording, Intelligent Video Analytics and Surveillance Systems, Building Management Systems, technology-based solutions, among others across a single network backbone.”

Kaul and Shekar Viswanathan, Vice Chairman of Toyota Kirloskar Motor, do advocate the use of car scanners in the landside of the airport. “They use scanners to carry out a wide range of product-scanning at ports, right from human-scanning to luggage-scanning, and container-scanning. It can be applied to cars also, before entering the landside of the airport,” says Kaul. “I am all for car-scanning,” says Viswanathan. But he quickly adds, “I want to just add one more caveat here, whether it might intrude the privacy of the people. So that way, a Colombo-kind of model would be more viable.”

T Suneel Kumar, Additional Director General (Internal Security Division), Karnataka State Police adds that though the aerodome security is being taken care of by the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), yet stringent measures may be recommended for landside security at airports.

Concerns galore

The airport security issues don’t stop here. There are lot of other issues that are highlighted by Pandey and Kaul. “Earlier, no construction was allowed within 300 metres of an airport. But now we see developments coming up right next to them,” says Pandey. “Now, terrorists can throw explosives at airports or snipe from them,” he adds.

Kaul is of the opinion that Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) are increasing, and so is the potent threat in the current scenario. “The use of UAVs needs to be regulated. There are lot of unregulated UAVs in the market. So terrorists can remotely access the airports and strike,” says Kaul. He suggests that we should set up no-drone areas and make sure that these drones remain within visual sight.

But on the other hand, airports think that they have enough security apparatus at the airports. “At BIAL, we place paramount importance on the safety of our passengers, stakeholders and community. BIAL, in collaboration with CISF and the State Police, continues to take all measures to ensure complete security of people and property at the Kempegowda International Airport, Bengaluru,” says a spokesperson from the airport.

The attack on Brussels is an eye-opener when it comes to aviation security. There was the time when the airside at US airports was open to everyone. You just walked through a light security check, and could pick up your relatives at the gate. But the 9/11 attacks changed the scenario. Airside security became important. In this case, isn’t it time that issues pertaining to landside security at Indian airports are also addressed?