Seven weeks after imposing a ban on nearly all liquids in airline travelers’ carry-on bags in response to terrorism fears, US transportation officials today will begin letting passengers carry on small amounts of personal-care products, as well as drinks bought in secured zones of airports.

Starting today, travelers will be allowed to bring 3-ounce containers of health and beauty products such as toothpaste, shampoo, and lotions — but only enough to fit in a single quart-size, clear bag. Coffee and other beverages, as well as toiletries that are bought at stores between security checkpoints and airline gates, will also be permitted to be carried on .

The Canadian government has launched an official investigation into how a Sun Media reporter was able to walk into restricted areas of a major airport five years after the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

The probe began yesterday morning after the Sun newspaper chain published reports by reporter Fabrice de Pierrebourg on how he walked the tarmac at Montreal’s Pierre Elliot Trudeau International Airport.

Read the full story.

The Musicians’ Union in the UK is planning to lobby the British Pariament over some security measures put in place which ban instruments from being taken on to planes as carry on luggage.

A spokesman for the Union says this new ban is affecting union members’ livelihood.

When Paraliment starts a new session next month the union plans to table a motion lifting the bans.

Passengers flying from the UK can take only one item of hand luggage no bigger than a laptop case.

Transport Secretary Douglas Alexander indicated yesterday that the anti-terror restrictions could be eased.

The 15,000 people who work at Pierre Elliot Trudeau International Airport near Montreal are really feeling the strain under the tight new security policies. Transport Canada now stipulates passengers and people who work at the Quebec airport may not take liquids, gels, or aerosols past security checkpoints.

This means that anyone who works past a security checkpoint has to settle for coffee or water from the water fountains for their lunch, something that does not make many workers very happy.

Transport Canada spokesperson Vanessa Vermette states that the rules are clear. No liquids past security checkpoints are allowed.

Transport Canada imposed a partial ban on liquids August 10 in response to a transatlantic airplane bomb plot foiled by British authorities that day.

A bomb alert in an airport terminal in West Virginia, USA turned out to be a false alarm as subsequent tests on suspect liquids did not show the presence of explosives. Earlier the airport terminal in Huntington was evacuated after two bottles of liquid found in the carry-bag of a woman of Pakistani origin tested positive for explosives and bomb sniffing dogs reacted positively to them, officials said.

The woman, who has not yet been identified, was questioned by FBI but was not arrested. The suspect’s bottles would be moved to a remote area by a robot where attempts would be made to detonate them and experts would conduct chemical tests to find out the nature of the contents, officials said. Screeners at the Tri-State Airport in Huntington found four items containing liquid out of which two tested positive, officials said. A canine team also got a positive hit for explosives, they added.

The flight in which the woman was to go was allowed to take off but about 100 passengers and employees were evacuated as police conducted the investigations. Reports said one screener noticed a bottle in the carry-on bag of the woman who was preparing to board the flight to Charlotte in North Carolina after the regular security check. The machine which detects explosives gave positive results in the case of two samples. The woman had a one-way ticket to Detroit vita Charlotte, an official said. He said the 28-year-old woman was originally from Pakistan but had moved to Huntington from Jackson, Michigan. Her identification papers showed she was born in 1978.

The US administration has banned carrying liquids into flights ever since the London police foiled a plot to blow up transatlantic flights coming into the United States using liquid explosives.

Souce: http://www.business-standard.com/

As airport security tightens up after botched attempts to bring liquid explosives onto British planes, a new technology is being utliized to detour anyone from trying to sneak anything onto planes. This new scan and virtual see right through your clothes and find anything you may be hiding on your person.

It does this so well infact that the scan will reveal a persons naked body on the screen for airpot security.

At the moment British Airports are using the new scanners in private rooms, one for men, and one for women, with same sex airport staff operating the equipment on a voluteer basis.

Reports say many people are taking the scan over an old fashion pat down. Meanwhile others are call the new machine a major invasion of privacy.
See the Full Virtual Strip Search Story

The US Department of Homeland Security is now requiring all passenger data to be sent to US authorities before any flights are allowed to leave Britain inbound for the United States. In the wake of last week’s events and arrests Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff was quote in the New York Times as saying he

hopes the plot serves as a “wake-up call” convincing airline executives and European officals that the changes should become permanent.

Until yesterday passenger data was provided 15 minutes after a British flight took off for the United Sates, this allowed the flights to be turned around if any suspected terrorists or criminals were on board, but this could not provent mid-air attacks.

Transport Canada has added juice and aerosols to a growing list of banned products on departure flights in an attempt to prevent terrorist attacks following a botched bomb plot in the UK this week.

Meanwhile in the US the Transportation Security Administration said Sunday small doses of liquid medication, low-blood-sugar treatments, solid lipsticks, powdered cosmetics and baby food will now be permitted in carry-on bags taken aboard planes, a change from rules put into place last week after news of a terrorist plot involving flights between the United States and United Kingdom.

Laptop computers, electronic devices and cell phones are still allowed to be taken in carry-on luggage aboard domestic flights and flights leaving the United States.

British authorities, however, continued their ban on any carry-on luggage for flights leaving from airports in the United Kingdom. All items, including laptops, purses, even books and magazines, have to be checked, a situation that’s created chaos at Heathrow Airport where one-third of flights were cancelled due to the extra security measures.

Here are airline restrictions put in place since the discovery of an alleged terror plot aimed at airliners flying between Great Britain and the United States:

• Travelers boarding commercial flights at a U.S. airport will not be allowed to carry “any liquids, including beverages, hair gels, and lotions” onto airliners.
• Passengers on flights from Great Britain are prohibited from carrying electronics on board. There are no such restrictions on people traveling on domestic flights or from the U.S. to Great Britain.
• Beverages purchased beyond security checkpoints must be consumed before boarding — they will not be permitted aboard the aircraft.
• TSA screeners will recheck every bag at boarding gates for banned items, preventing passengers from carrying items purchased in boarding areas.
• Gate-side inspections are taking place for all passengers on flights to Great Britain. On other flights, the TSA is conducting random gate-side inspections.
• Federal security directors — the top TSA officials at airports — have discretion on how to implement the new policy. They can also use any resource available to conduct the inspections, meaning they can use their own screeners, state and local law enforcement personnel or airline personnel.

Source: CNN

U.S. airlines canceled UK flights Thursday, waived penalties for ticket changes and extra checked baggage, and asked passengers to arrive earlier in response to tighter security measures after British police said they foiled a plan to blow up trans-Atlantic airliners.

American Airlines, a unit of AMR Corp. , said it had canceled six flights between London’s Heathrow airport and New York, Chicago and Boston. UAL Corp.’s United Airlines said it was expecting delays of more than two hours on flights from London.

Delta Air Lines Inc., which flies to London’s Gatwick airport, said its flights were operating normally.

The British government banned carry-on baggage on flights from the UK to the United States.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security tightened security on domestic flights, prohibiting passengers from bringing any liquids, gels or lotions in their carry-on baggage. It made exceptions for baby formula and medicines.

Delta said it was waiving excess baggage charges, while JetBlue Airways Corp. said it is allowing passengers to check in a third bag without extra fees, as passengers move newly banned items into their checked baggage.

United said it revised its ticketing policy, allowing some people traveling between the UK and United States to make one change to their itinerary without any fees.