On the fast track?

How to improve landside security without causing even more hassles for flyers was a major topic. So was the challenge of screening airport and airline employees as well as those working for service providers without trampling over their rights to privacy. No problem in some developing countries where trampling over private lives is par for the course but a big issue in the developed world.

Yet, while these are clearly major issues, the hundreds of delegates at AVSEC continue to tussle with a long-standing and ongoing problem: the totally uncoordinated approach to aviation security that exists globally, with different rules being applied in different countries when it comes to screening passengers moving through airports and boarding aircraft. As you approach the X-ray do you take your shoes off, or your belt? Computer out… or leave it in your bag? Another example. If you’re flying from Australia through Singapore to continental Europe via London and are in transit at each stop you end up being screened three times. So the Singaporeans don’t trust the level of screening at Sydney? Then the Brits don’t trust the level of screening at Sydney or Singapore? Could it be that something is about to be done to resolve these issues? Enter the relatively new International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) secretary general, China’s Liu Fang. In Kuala Lumpur she drew attention to the fact that the organisation’s assembly in September in Montreal not only reached concensus on a carbon emissions scheme for airlines (which got all the headlines), it also reached agreement on the need to fast track a new global aviation security plan. The United Nations Security Council unanimously adopted resolution 2309 calling on all States to work with each other and the ICAO to continuously adapt measures to meet the “ever-evolving global threat” of terrorism, she pointed out.

While many might be a little skeptical about ICAO’s ability to fast track anything – it doesn’t exactly have a reputation for speedy resolution of issues – Dr Liu might just be the person to deliver. She joined the General Administration of Civil Aviation of China (CAAC) in 1987 and was chosen to lead ICAO last year. Liu is director of the Air Law Institute of China and has a PhD in law from Wuhan University of China specialising in international law, and a masters degree from Leiden University of the Netherlands, majoring in air and space law.

More importantly, before taking up her post she was with CAAC’s International Affairs Division, participating in endless bilateral air consultations between China and foreign countries. She developed the draft model of China’s bilateral air services agreement and formulated the country’s international air transport policy.

Dealing with the complexities of such negotiations puts her in good stead to smooth the way for what everyone – particularly airlines – want: standardisation of aviation security. Liu told AVSEC all States need to work more closely together to deal with security threats.

“The new plan will create a dependable and co-operative framework that allows states to move in line with industry and other law enforcement stakeholders,” she said, adding that everyone was aware of the challenges integrating the responsibilities of local, regional and international enforcement and security services.

“The new plan will help to define the roles and responsibilities of all the agencies and it will lead to more progressive and coordinated aviation security enforcement. ” More important, she revealed a draft of the new global security plan will be made available in May next year with a view to being considered by the ICAO council shortly after that. For the UN agency that represents unprecedented speed and it is great news for airlines faced with a complicated jigsaw of security rules that vary from country to country.

Liu wasn’t the only one to underscore the need for speed when it comes to dealing with emerging security threats. The International Air Transport Association’s (IATA) new director general Alexandre de Juniac re-enforced the message at AVSEC.

“Speed is of the essence. Threats emerge quickly. And they evolve fast,” he said.

De Juniac laid out a critical framework of four principles the world’s airlines believe will help address the threats and challenges. They are risk-based measures to ensure that limited resources are applied where the threats are greatest, information sharing among governments and with industry to enable effective risk assessments, the implementation of global standards in security systems worldwide to support effective collaboration between all parties in all locations and capacity building supporting the mutual recognition of standards to improve effectiveness and efficiency.

Now, all ICAO has to do is deliver.

Speed is of the essence. Threats emerge quickly.