No more secondary gate screening on Australia bound flights from certain airports?

[kpc]

Still (annoying) secondary liquid screen at Nan...so cursory is the search is that they would not have seen / found a full bottle of water at the bottom of my bag!

So why bother Australian Government?!

 

[Himeno]

So why bother Australian Government?!

For the appearance of "doing something" about a non existent problem.

 

[NM]

So why bother Australian Government?!

For the appearance of "doing something" about a non existent problem.

Maybe its the skeptic in me, but I have always believed the reason secondary liquid screening is more related to lobbying by Australian airport owners wanting it to continue after it was initially implemented under the guise of not trusting the foreign airport primary screening processes. That way they can justify higher rent for the AU airport duty-free businesses because the punters can't buy their duty-free booze at point of departure and hence more likely to pay the higher prices charged by the arrival airport DF businesses.

 

[Himeno]

Maybe its the skeptic in me, but I have always believed the reason secondary liquid screening is more related to lobbying by Australian airport owners wanting it to continue after it was initially implemented under the guise of not trusting the foreign airport primary screening processes. That way they can justify higher rent for the AU airport duty-free businesses because the punters can't buy their duty-free booze at point of departure and hence more likely to pay the higher prices charged by the arrival airport DF businesses.

That's why the airports supported the added screening, not the reason for said screening.

It comes down to the same reason that the pointless unneeded wastes of time and space (body scanners) were rolled out. Demands from the US DHS/TSA and misinformation about the perceived "threat".

 

[YSSY]

We didnt have secondary screening in Singapore 2 weeks ago en route to Sydney, I thought it might have been a mistake, but perhaps not.

 

[Daver6]

We didnt have secondary screening in Singapore 2 weeks ago en route to Sydney, I thought it might have been a mistake, but perhaps not.

All SIN screening is done at the gate anyway.

 

[YSSY]

All SIN screening is done at the gate anyway.

Yes, but usually you pass through the scanners as you would for any other destination and there is another desk for the physical bag check, only on Australian flights.

 

[Himeno]

Yes, but usually you pass through the scanners as you would for any other destination and there is another desk for the physical bag check, only on Australian flights.

Didn't have anything like that for SIN-SYD in may.

 

[clifford]

Well it was certainly in force at CGK a few weeks ago.

Quite cursory and really a waste of time. Who came up with this grabage anyway, and why?

 

[Himeno]

Who came up with this grabage anyway, and why?

America and the UK did. Because fearmongering.
It came to Australia because it was a prerequisite in getting the open skies agreement signed.

 

[henrus]

Tldr: There is no list of airports/countries and instead it's up to the airline/airport to decide if it's needed.

It's been discussed on AFF before but there wasn't an answer then and I've just done some digging into this to figure out where it's coming from...

N

Thread 'Secondary bag checks for Australian bound flights'

Sep 2, 2019

Recently flying NAD - SYD, and just before the boarding gate, there's another set of security personnel with tables set up for hand luggage search. This isn't too unusual, I've seen it happen once or twice before, in Singapore, but always towards flights bound for Australian.

Anyhow, my turn comes and the nice lady looks though my backpack. Asks me if I have any liquids, and I shake my head. Passengers beside me are getting irked when their newly purchased "Fiji Water" bottles are being thrown out. This is surprising, since they bought these past security, but anyhow I digress.

The lady...

• nerdinary
• Replies: 22
• Forum: Open Discussion

In short the "Aviation Transport Security Regulations 2005" is where this is all originates from and the operator of an aircraft can be fined for not following the laws and ensuring there is screening people for LAGs. There is no hard

Federal Register of Legislation - Aviation Transport Security Regulations 2005

www.legislation.gov.au

As a result the airline will want to make sure that they're following these rules and for airports with either less tight screening they'll setup/require the gate checks.

There are two "exempt" countries which are New Zealand and the US. From those two countries any LAGs either taken through security or purchased airside are considered an exempt LAG item meaning if NZ/USA allows it through security or you buy it airside then there no extra checks are required hence you'll never see additional checks at airports in these countries.

Every other country is considered non exempt meaning it's essentially up to the operator to decide if they consider the airport operators processes/security to be up to scratch to ensure that no passenger boards with a LAG item.


In the case of an airport like Singapore it's very easy for them to control this for flights to Australia as security is done gate side however in the case of an airport like Denpasar where security might not fully enforce LAG restrictions they setup the extra check at the gate.

As an interesting side point that same legislation has offences for passengers who have more then one LAGs bag something I've never seen enforced but I guess I've also never heard of the above ever being used against an operator.

 

[kyle]

Tldr: There is no list of airports/countries and instead it's up to the airline/airport to decide if it's needed.

It's been discussed on AFF before but there wasn't an answer then and I've just done some digging into this to figure out where it's coming from...

N

Thread 'Secondary bag checks for Australian bound flights'

Sep 2, 2019

Recently flying NAD - SYD, and just before the boarding gate, there's another set of security personnel with tables set up for hand luggage search. This isn't too unusual, I've seen it happen once or twice before, in Singapore, but always towards flights bound for Australian.

Anyhow, my turn comes and the nice lady looks though my backpack. Asks me if I have any liquids, and I shake my head. Passengers beside me are getting irked when their newly purchased "Fiji Water" bottles are being thrown out. This is surprising, since they bought these past security, but anyhow I digress.

The lady...

• nerdinary
• Replies: 22
• Forum: Open Discussion

In short the "Aviation Transport Security Regulations 2005" is where this is all originates from and the operator of an aircraft can be fined for not following the laws and ensuring there is screening people for LAGs. There is no hard

Federal Register of Legislation - Aviation Transport Security Regulations 2005

www.legislation.gov.au

As a result the airline will want to make sure that they're following these rules and for airports with either less tight screening they'll setup/require the gate checks.

There are two "exempt" countries which are New Zealand and the US. From those two countries any LAGs either taken through security or purchased airside are considered an exempt LAG item meaning if NZ/USA allows it through security or you buy it airside then there no extra checks are required hence you'll never see additional checks at airports in these countries.

Every other country is considered non exempt meaning it's essentially up to the operator to decide if they consider the airport operators processes/security to be up to scratch to ensure that no passenger boards with a LAG item.
View attachment 414818

In the case of an airport like Singapore it's very easy for them to control this for flights to Australia as security is done gate side however in the case of an airport like Denpasar where security might not fully enforce LAG restrictions they setup the extra check at the gate.

As an interesting side point that same legislation has offences for passengers who have more then one LAGs bag something I've never seen enforced but I guess I've also never heard of the above ever being used against an operator.

So that means it's CX in HKG deciding that it's not needed?

 

[henrus]

So that means it's CX in HKG deciding that it's not needed?

It appears that is the case. Legislation leaves it up to the operator.

I don't think there are any examples of one operator from a port doing screening whilst another doesn't but I guess that's possible?

 

[jrfsp]

It appears that is the case. Legislation leaves it up to the operator.

I don't think there are any examples of one operator from a port doing screening whilst another doesn't but I guess that's possible?

Which makes it even more of a charade

 

[patrickw]

In force at BKK last week. Quite annoying as there wasn't any water refill at the gate lounge.

They were enforcing LAG rules at the first security screen.

Post automatically merged: Wednesday at 5:54 PM

Flew HKG-MEL on CX and there was none.

And HKG now using the new scanners where you don't have to take out anything.

Noting that LAG rules were enforced in transit security (2 Nov), where they still have the old x-ray machines

 

[dajop]

Yes, but usually you pass through the scanners as you would for any other destination and there is another desk for the physical bag check, only on Australian flights.

Never for me. I do SIN-MEL about 6-8 times per year and have done so since 2008 (except 2020/21) and not once have had a physical bag check after security. It would seem rather pointless.

The one exception to this is JQ8 to MEL from T4, which has central security. When taking this flight, I wasn't checked but I did notice them pulling aside people with larger carry ons and checking them.

 

[Flyfrequently]

Back in the day when QF did DXB - MEL, screening prior to boarding, bottle of water from the Lounge confiscated

 

[p--and--t]

Last time I flew thru HKG water taken off me at security.

Got to gate ready to board bought bottle of water from kiosk in gate lounge.

As we are boarding stopped in the aerobridge and bag searched and water confiscated again

 

[Zero]

Last time I flew thru HKG water taken off me at security.

Got to gate ready to board bought bottle of water from kiosk in gate lounge.

As we are boarding stopped in the aerobridge and bag searched and water confiscated again

When was this because as I posted before, the searching on the airbridge stopped in 2018 (in my and my family's experience). I have flown to and from HK very frequently for the past 25 years except between 2020 and 2022

Heathrow has liquid confiscation in secondary transit screening. All seemed OTT

Noting that LAG rules were enforced in transit security (2 Nov), where they still have the old x-ray machines

The UK, EU and HKG still only permit liquids in containers less than 100ml that fit in a single plastic bag, despite using the new scanners that don't require you to take the liquids out and place them in your tray separately.

(Earlier this year there was a period of about 2 weeks(?) when the UK allowed any amount of liquids, but they backtracked and reinstated the old rules. I think a small number of EU airports still allow any amount of liquids but most don't)

Also you didn't need to take liquids out and place them separately in your tray in Hong Kong, even with the old scanners, at least since 2022. I can't remember if you needed to take them out before covid

 

[p--and--t]

When was this because as I posted before, the searching on the airbridge stopped in 2018 (in my and my family's experience). I have flown to and from HK very frequently for the past 25 years except between 2020 and 2022

Cant recall exact dates would have been around 2018, my last trip through HKG before covid. Have used other Asian gateways on my trips since then (eg TPE, SIN, KUL, NRT)