Ryanair flights open to security risk, report reveals
BAGGAGE handlers on Ryanair flights to Ireland from Stansted can get jobs without any criminal record check, background investigation or job interview, an undercover investigation by the Mail on Sunday has revealed.
A reporter obtained a £8.80-an-hour (€10) job at Stansted and had unsupervised time in the hold of several Ryanair passenger jets – without a criminal background check ever being carried out.
Even though strict rules say he should have been chaperoned at all times, the Mail reporter was left unguarded while he loaded dozens of buggies transporting luggage to planes waiting to take off with hundreds of passengers on board.
The lack of supervision opens up the possibility of theft from luggage or even a terrorist attack.
In contrast to Stansted, bosses at Heathrow view the so-called ‘insider threat’ posed by the airside passes so seriously they recently tightened the rules. At the UK’s biggest airport, applicants for even a temporary pass must now first show proof of a clean criminal record, have a security interview and undergo a background check into their past 12 months.
As he reveals in his Mail on Sunday investigation, Abul Taher was able to roam freely around areas of Stansted Airport off limits to passengers, even though his background had not been vetted. The UK’s Civil Aviation Authority has launched an investigation into the findings.
Ten days after he started at Stansted, Mr Taher called the firm to check the progress of the criminal record check on him, to be told: ‘We haven’t even started that yet.’
The Mail on Sunday launched its investigation after being tipped off by an industry whistleblower claiming staff shortages at Britain’s major airports were, in some cases, leading to glaring security failings.
A Ryanair spokesman said: ‘All handling at Stansted is operated by Swissport. As recently announced, we will move to OmniServ as a new handler from February 2019.’ The recruitment firm at the centre of the investigation, 3B Recruitment, said: ‘We carry out thorough security checks on all candidates in accordance with requirements of Swissport.’