Airports to continue 'no scan no fly' policy

London: The ‘no security scan, no fly' policy at British airports is to remain in place despite EU demands that passengers be allowed a pat-down search instead, ministers have said.

Transport Secretary Justine Greening said the refusal to allow passengers to opt out from scanning was justified by the security threat to Britain and would be imposed through powers under the Aviation Security Act.

"Those passengers selected for scanning will therefore not be able to fly if they are not willing to be scanned," Greening said.

She also said that the use of certain X-ray security scanners at some British airports will not be banned despite European commission concerns about the health risks.

Ministers are to wait for further scientific work before deciding whether to ban the use of so-called ‘backscatter' scanners.

Brussels has halted all new trials of the machines while a safety report is compiled because of concerns that they could cause long-term health damage including cancer. In the UK, the Health Protection Agency has said they are safe for travellers to go through as many as 5,000 times a year and deliver a radiation dose equal to that received naturally in two minutes of flying at high altitude.

Greening held out the prospect that privacy concerns raised by the introduction of full body scanners, which reveal an outline of the body shape, would be addressed by software in development.

She said the software would mean that images would no longer be seen by human reviewers and airports will be expected to deploy it when they renew or replace equipment.

12 refusals

In a written ministerial statement, Greening said the government was only aware of 12 people refusing to go through the scanners at British airports out of more than one million scans since their introduction.

Greening said: "I do not believe that a pat down search is equivalent in security terms to a security scan.

"The purpose of introducing security scanners in the first place was to protect the travelling public better against sophisticated terrorist threats. These threats still exist, and the required level of security is not achieved by permitting passengers to choose a less effective alternative."

— Guardian News & Media Ltd