Airline bends baggage screening norm

Mumbai: At every international airport in India, only one security agency is allowed to conduct X-ray screening of registered baggage for all foreign flights. But Jet Airways has apparently been flouting this norm at the Mumbai airport for a while.
The airline recently came under the scanner of the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) for doing away with the rule, which is aimed at making the security procedure at Indian airports foolproof. Air India, incidentally, is the security handling agency for the Mumbai airport.
The BCAS has sought an explanation from Jet Airways in a letter dated July 22, a copy of which is available with TOI. It says, "Under the single security handling agency instructions, Air India was authorized to screen the registered baggage at Mumbai airport. It has been observed that Jet Airways is screening the registered baggage themselves."
The letter goes on to seek an explanation from the airline and asks whether or not it has got any exemption from the single security handling agency system followed at Indian airports.
A Jet Airways spokesperson said, "The airline is working with BCAS on the issue, as it has done in the past, to ensure that passengers are not unduly inconvenienced while ensuring that security requirements, both Indian and international, are not compromised." According to a source, the carrier started flouting the norm-put forth by the Indian government-in June 2007 after it launched its United States flight operations.
18/08/08 Manju V/Times of India

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Categories: Airports Aug 2008, Jet Airways Aug 2008, Safety Aug 2008