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Millions of UK passengers are expected to face new checks and delays at boarding gates in the biggest shake-up of airport security for a decade because of fears of laptop bombs.
America has shared “concrete intelligence”, warning that there could be jihadists living in Britain with the potential to manufacture bombs from electronic devices. As a result, Downing Street is overseeing plans to ban laptops, tablets and ebook readers in hand luggage on flights to America.
Government officials and airport bosses believe it is a “foregone conclusion” that the devices will have to be banned on all US-bound flights, with new restrictions likely to be imposed within weeks.
One Special Branch source also wondered whether the new security checks would have to be widened to encompass all UK flights if the terror threat from extremists in this country was considered to be so severe.
US sources believe that up to one in three flights to America from Heathrow will have to be cancelled temporarily in order to bring in new screening for hand luggage at boarding gates
The Sunday Times understands that Washington is so concerned about aviation security that agents from the US Department of Homeland Security have already been deployed to boarding gates in the UK for flights to America, with orders to scan passengers for physical or behavioural signs of danger.
“This is a game changer. Britain is our most trusted partner when it comes to security, but the threat has now likely moved to the UK and we must respond,” said a US source.
Security experts this weekend warned that the new measures would come at an “enormous cost” to airlines and airports and cause “chaos and confusion” for passengers.
The Department for Transport told UK airports last Thursday to prepare for the change. A senior executive at one major UK airport said the message from government officials was that a ban was “a matter of when, not if”.
“All we know is that it is likely to affect electronic devices bigger than an iPhone 7,” said the source.
Amber Rudd, the home secretary, and six other European interior ministers were briefed on a phone call with John Kelly, the US homeland security secretary, on Friday. A senior Whitehall official said the “groundwork is being laid” to implement the proposals.
Security sources said the alert was over manually triggered bombs in hand baggage. If a laptop bomb were hidden in checked-in luggage it would have a remote trigger and this would be spotted by state-of-the-art scanners before being loaded onto the aircraft, the sources added.
It is expected that passengers will be searched for electronic devices at boarding gates. Any found would be screened before being placed into “padded envelopes” and stored in aircraft holds. Passengers would be reunited with their devices at baggage reclaim on arrival.
The new checks will amount to the most significant changes to airport security since the “liquid bomb” plot of 2006, when terrorists tried to blow up 10 transatlantic flights from the UK to America using explosives stored in their hand luggage. Those measures resulted in more than 2,000 flights being cancelled.
America has shared “concrete intelligence”, warning that there could be jihadists living in Britain with the potential to manufacture bombs from electronic devices. As a result, Downing Street is overseeing plans to ban laptops, tablets and ebook readers in hand luggage on flights to America.
Government officials and airport bosses believe it is a “foregone conclusion” that the devices will have to be banned on all US-bound flights, with new restrictions likely to be imposed within weeks.
One Special Branch source also wondered whether the new security checks would have to be widened to encompass all UK flights if the terror threat from extremists in this country was considered to be so severe.
US sources believe that up to one in three flights to America from Heathrow will have to be cancelled temporarily in order to bring in new screening for hand luggage at boarding gates
The Sunday Times understands that Washington is so concerned about aviation security that agents from the US Department of Homeland Security have already been deployed to boarding gates in the UK for flights to America, with orders to scan passengers for physical or behavioural signs of danger.
“This is a game changer. Britain is our most trusted partner when it comes to security, but the threat has now likely moved to the UK and we must respond,” said a US source.
Security experts this weekend warned that the new measures would come at an “enormous cost” to airlines and airports and cause “chaos and confusion” for passengers.
The Department for Transport told UK airports last Thursday to prepare for the change. A senior executive at one major UK airport said the message from government officials was that a ban was “a matter of when, not if”.
“All we know is that it is likely to affect electronic devices bigger than an iPhone 7,” said the source.
Amber Rudd, the home secretary, and six other European interior ministers were briefed on a phone call with John Kelly, the US homeland security secretary, on Friday. A senior Whitehall official said the “groundwork is being laid” to implement the proposals.
Security sources said the alert was over manually triggered bombs in hand baggage. If a laptop bomb were hidden in checked-in luggage it would have a remote trigger and this would be spotted by state-of-the-art scanners before being loaded onto the aircraft, the sources added.
It is expected that passengers will be searched for electronic devices at boarding gates. Any found would be screened before being placed into “padded envelopes” and stored in aircraft holds. Passengers would be reunited with their devices at baggage reclaim on arrival.
The new checks will amount to the most significant changes to airport security since the “liquid bomb” plot of 2006, when terrorists tried to blow up 10 transatlantic flights from the UK to America using explosives stored in their hand luggage. Those measures resulted in more than 2,000 flights being cancelled.
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