London City CT scanners give it a passenger handling advantage – other airports must catch up fast

In Aug-2006 a 'plot' was uncovered to explode bombs on multiple trans Atlantic flights out of the UK, mainly from London Heathrow, by using liquid explosives carried onto aircraft in hand baggage.

There were no actual attacks, but the ramifications were profound as an entire new security industry arose globally out of the simple need to prevent such attacks by restricting what could be carried onboard and by subjecting hand baggage to technological examination.

There was huge investment by technology firms to improve security technology. The subsequent delays and varying interpretations of rules ("shoes on/off", "laptop in/out") became a bone of contention among passengers for almost two decades.

Airports had to absorb the costs of redesigning terminals, moving most of the retail and food and beverage facilities from landside to airside. In some cases those costs were high, but they also benefitted from the additional purchases that passengers had to make at the airport.

Perhaps that goes some way to explaining why many airports in the UK are not keen on implementing new scan technology that can bring to an end these restrictions until the deadline of Jun-2024.

One of the airports that have decided to go ahead and implement this new technology now is London City Airport (LCY).