News: Ticketless boy breaches airport security
Flights > News > # 905 (16/08/2006)
A boy managed to sail through security and board a holiday flight without a ticket at one of Britain’s busiest airports on Monday morning. The 12-year-old, who is believed to have runaway from a care home in Merseyside, was found on Monarch Scheduled ’s 6am flight from London Gatwick to the Portuguese capital Lisbon.
Monarch’s managing director, Tim Jeans, told the BBC there were issues that "must and will be addressed". Mr Jeans added: "I think it's equally important that the final line of security did work. That's the check when passengers get on board the aircraft and their boarding cards are checked but of course it shouldn't have got that far."
Airport operator BAA admitted the boy had passed through security procedures. Chris Garton, operational solutions director for BAA at Gatwick Airport, said a full investigation was being carried out with the police and Monarch Airlines.
"We are aware that the boy was identified without documentation but we're absolutely confident from the investigation so far that he was thoroughly searched and passed through the full security screening process,” Mr Garton added.
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Comment:
In the aftermath of a major terrorist alert, we’d always expect to see a fair amount of jitters, but in the week since last Thursday's arrests, BAA, who run London’s three busiest airports, have been responsible for a series of worrying, and totally avoidable, blunders. Examples of BAA’s incompetence and ineptitude have included:
- Under staffing at both Heathrow and Stansted, leading to massive queues and the prospect of both British Airways and Ryanair seeking compensation.
- Failing to stop a 12-year-old boy sailing through security and boarding a Monarch flight at London Gatwick, despite him not having any identification documents or tickets.
- Losing thousands of items of luggage at Heathrow.
- Failing to spot that a USA-bound passenger was carrying two banned items. This resulted in a United Airlines flight from London to Washington having to be escorted by fighter jets and being diverted to Boston. A British Airways flight from London to New York being turned back after a mobile phone started ringing.
It is hard to feel any sympathy for Ryanair – the no-frills giants are very quick to criticise when things go wrong, but they certainly don’t have the best reputation for looking after their customers whenever they make any mistakes of their own.
On the other hand, one has to feel sorry for British Airways. During the summers of 2003 and 2004 BA were disrupted by wildcat strike action, then they suffered again when the Gate Gourmet dispute erupted last year. Now they have had to endure a fourth consecutive summer of disruption following the terror scare.
All these inconveniences might still pale into insignificance compared to what would have happened if last week's plot hadn't been foiled, but passengers and airlines alike are entitled to expect higher standards from the UK's largest airport operator. Nothing that has happened over the past week will do BAA any favours with regards to the ongoing investigations by the Office of Fair Trading into the company’s dominance of the UK airport market.
