Hobart part of security review plan

Regional airport check after Sydney scare

HOBART International Airport will feature in a national security review of regional terminals in the wake of the alleged Sydney terror plot.

It comes as calls to reintroduce the Australian Federal Police at the airport reached fever pitch following the alleged conspiracy to blow up a plane departing Sydney.

Federal Transport Minister Darren Chester has ordered a review of aviation security measures.

“I have formally asked the secretary of my department to review the security settings at regional airports as a precautionary measure,” he said.

“Should our security experts judge that further or different measures are required to enhance our safety at regional airports, the Government will take action.”

The review’s terms of reference are yet to be finalised but the minister’s office confirmed late yesterday that Hobart airport would be included in the probe.

An airport spokesman said the facility would continue to work with the Commonwealth on security matters.

“All regular passengers flying in and out of Hobart are subject to a screening process,” he said.

The review appeared to have been prompted, in part, by inconsistencies in federal aviation regulations.

While Hobart, Launceston and Devonport airports all have permanent screening facilities, Burnie airport, which hosts flights to Melbourne through airline Rex, does not.

But passengers flying from Melbourne to Burnie on the same plane would be screened.

This is because aircraft under 20 tonnes, including Rex’s Saab 340 flown from Burnie, don’t require mandatory screening under aviation regulations unless leaving from a security-controlled airport like Melbourne’s.

Burnie Airport Corporation chairman Andrew Wardlaw said the company would work with authorities and airlines if required.

“We have security measures there under our security plan but we are not required to mandatory screen as per airports,” he said.

Rex has previously threatened to pull out of Burnie airport if it was forced to introduce screening.

Yesterday it said most regional centres would be left without an air service if screening was made mandatory.

“The socio-economic impact of the loss of air services would be devastating to regional communities,” a Rex spokeswoman said.

The Transport Workers Union welcomed the federal review of regional airports, saying it was “long overdue”.

Tasmania Police reiterated its preference for the AFP to return to the Hobart airport.

“Tasmania Police has reviewed its protective security around Tasmania’s principal airports in response to advice from national security agencies,” Deputy Commissioner Scott Tilyard said.