From next year all passengers travelling on domestic BA flights from Heathrow
will have to give their fingerprint and have their face scanned as part of
the security check prior to take off.
The new biometric techniques, which will be introduced at Terminal 5 when it
opens in March, were being implemented as a result of "recent security
threats," airports operator BAA said. Similar procedures are already in
force in other countries, such as the US.
BAA said the checks, which will take place at the normal security point and
then again immediately prior to boarding, had become necessary because
Terminal 5 had a common departure lounge for international and domestic
passengers.
Such lounges left open the possibility that a passenger arriving on an
international flight could board a domestic flight from the common area and
evade immigration control.
"Up until now there's always been separate departure lounges at Heathrow,"
a BAA spokesman said. "The problem is that an international passenger
arriving at Heathrow who is supposed to be transferring to Helsinki, say,
could possibly board a flight to Edinburgh and thus avoid immigration."
Existing terminals which have common lounges for international and domestic
passengers, such as Gatwick, get around this problem by requiring all
domestic passengers to have a photo taken, which is then printed on their
boarding pass.
The spokesman added that while there were no plans yet to introduce biometric
security checks across all airports such checks were "definitely the
way of the future".
The new machinery at Terminal 5 also had the potential to synchronise with
other databases, so that a passenger's biometric information could instantly
be checked against, for instance, an ID card database.
Biometric screening is just one of a range of security measures that will be
introduced at Terminal 5, a tour of the as-yet-unfinished facility taken by
Times Online revealed.
As many as 120 archway detectors deploying the latest X-ray technology will
screen the 70,000-80,000 passengers who will pass through the terminal each
day. The CCTV network will also be "one of the largest in the UK",
BAA said.
All taxis picking up and dropping off passengers will be required to have a
radio frequency identification tag fitted so that their movements can be
tracked while embedded sensors underneath all the roads will provide
additional monitoring.
Starting in September, more than 14,000 people will take part in trials of the
facility. The site, which is the size of Hyde Park, is due to open on March
27.
BAA said that the £4.3 billion project, which began construction in 2002, was
currently on budget.
what a shame - I will not be using Heathrow in the future. I resent the finger-printing and biometric invasion. What happens to all that information ? Will it be found lying in someone's front garden 2 months afterwards ? I think we are just not ready for this kind of data collection - we cannot keep it safe or even know where to dispose of it. Heard the US was a safe place (?).
Jacqui, Barcelona,
The unnecessarily invasive security checks at Heathrow are not the result of poor design in separating passengers but a result of government pressure to obtain biometric data on everyone.
NuLab – the party that ignores the people – is determined to introduce compulsory biometric ID cards, determined to have the world’s first DNA database of the entire population and does this under the pretence of National Security.
The terrorist threat is not a major concern to most people. House prices is. Law and order is. The cost of heating a home is. Job security is. All this government spin of terrorist threat achieves is huge profits for the security industry and a curtailment of traditional freedoms and liberties.
I do not say there is no threat from terrorists but I believe that the greater threat to our freedom is from a control-freak Prime Minister
R Bingham, Lauzun, France
So because BAA cannot separate domestic travelers from international travelers we all have to accept these checks?
An other reason for breaking up the BAA dominance in the UK.
Look at other airports in Europe like Schiphol in the Netherlands were this is not a problem at all.
All Schengen and non Schengen passengers are kept apart by having different zones for each of them.
Peter, Edinburgh, UK
There seems to be a great reliance that criminals and terrorists already have had their fingerprints taken and recorded against the correct name.
At Heathrow BA have already caused chaos by insisting that we use e-ticket machines which print out boarding cards that we then have to present to a person who checks our bags in. Families were split up and so much time is taken up with trying to re-sit the passengers we were an hour late taking off.
The return flight was significant in that one of our bags did not travel from Lyon to Heathrow on the same flight as us, and that BAA don't realise that a lot of people want to fly on holdiay during teh summer, I think that the equipment is likely to fail on a regular basis.
Technology is not always the answer, good old fashioned human beings are so much better.
Dave Brown, Upminster, essex
Further to my earlier comments, I forgot to mention that there should not even BE a Terminal 5. We should be cutting down on flights, not encouraging more. Global warming and pollution are a far greater threat to civilization than terrorism.
Graham Shakeshaft, South Brent, England
The introduction of such biometric scanning at Heathrow is appalling. If necessary it should be redesigned to have separate lounges for domestic and international flights. It's only one step short of the scenario in Gattaca.
Time for a boycott, I think.
Graham Shakeshaft, South Brent, England
Shall not be booking from Heathrow again.
John Bowen, Lewes, England
Can BA give a credible guarantee that the fingerprints will ONLY be used to track people from check-in to gate, and then totally deleted? If so, then I wouldn't mind. But if it's hedged around with weasel words, then forget it; it's time to avoid Heathrow.
Rob Findlay, Shrewsbury, UK
Citizens are reminded to have their barcode ready for inspection upon entry into Airstrip One.
Rick Smith, Biggleswade,
I used to think that for law-abiding citizens, these measures were a small but worthwhile inconvenience but now wonder how this information will be used and where we are headed. Will we end up in the same direction as America where CCTV cameras on the streets compare your movements with "patterns of suspicious behaviour" then use facial recognition software to identify who you are and where you've been? George Orwell eat your heart out!
EM, Glasgow, UK
I'm never visiting London again. This is completely unnecessary and too intrusive.
Karl Samuelson, Cape Town,
This seems an expensive and time wasting way to correct basic design faults relating to separation of passengers. WHy not redesign the interior layout which is not yet finished and before all the inevitable shops are put in. And the removal on all post check in shopping would be a major help to security - the biggest security risk are the airside sales staff who get to know all the loopholes and can take all manner of items in and out - no matter how loudly they will deny this possibility.
But profit comes before security and passenger convenience a low priority.
Richard Duffy, London,
I find life a lot simpler just staying at home.
ron, toronto,
I agree that security is an important aspect of flying in this high risk travel environment. The security checks may be bothersome for a legitimate traveler but we need to remember that this security is in place exactly for the legitimate traveler to ensure our safety. What does concern me though is that we are leaving the boundaries of customers buying a service to each and every one of us becoming suspects. My concern with this figerprint aspect of security is where does the figerprint information come from. I know that my fingerprints are not on file anywhere. We face an era of identity fraud. How much of our identities are we freely giving complete strangers who are suposed to be trustworthy and professional. Forget terrorism, I will get a job with Customs and become whoever in the world I want to become.
M.G, Jersey,