MAY: AIRPORTS MUST IMPROVE FLIGHT CHECKS
PM demands crackdown as anti-terror rules flouted
THERESA May will demand beefedup security at airports around the world tomorrow on her first trip to the US as Prime Minister.
The former Home Secretary will warn the UN Security Council that anti-terror regulations are not always enforced, leaving travellers vulnerable to attack.
She will press for a resolution aimed at the International Civil Aviation Organisation, a UN agency that sets the rules.
But Mrs May also wants a rethink of the whole airport security system.
A British official said: “This is something where the UK has really been driving the UN. We hope a process we have been pushing will culminate with a resolution on aviation security.” Recent attacks on air travellers have included the suicide bombing in Brussels that killed 15 people, 45 deaths at Istanbul’s Ataturk Airport and an explosion on a jet over Egypt.
Islamic State claimed it had smuggled a bomb on board the plane, which was heading to Russia with 224 people on board. Britain aims to have an agreement on security lapses at airports worldwide agreed in time for an ICAO meeting due to be held this autumn. Officials say existing rules are satisfactory, but the source warned: “The problem is they’re not implemented.” The UK is hiring more aviation security officers around the world amid the rising threat from Islamic terrorism. The source added: “We have been doing work to look at what is the threat worldwide to aviation, and what more can be done. “It’s about trying to take apart the process, from when you arrive at the airport through to when that plane takes off.”