Increased airport security is the main legacy of the 9/11 terrorists attacks on America, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) said today (September 5).
The annual bill for the checks now comes to $7.4bn, the organisation said in a new publication The Impact of September 11 2011 on Aviation.
IATA called for a new “risked-based” approach to security to cut airport queues and costs.
But the document, marking the tenth anniversary of the attacks, also notes the “resilience” of the industry in recovering from the tragedy in three years.
In the foreword tothe document, IATA’s ceo Tony Tyler wrote: “The legacy of 9/11 is felt most in airport security. Aviation is more secure today than in 2001. But this has come at a great price in terms of passenger convenience and industry costs.”
Tyler said there were five main lessons to be learned from 9/11.
- Governments must co-ordinate security to produce global standards
- Government are “obliged” to foot the bill for security which currently falls on airlines and passengers
- Passengers must always be vigilant and co-operative
- Governments “need to embrace a risk-based approach to security screening”
- Everyone must accept that there is no such thing as 100% security.
Tyler said a “good place to start is by removing the hassle that comes between check-in and boarding at many airports.”
He added: “The vision for IATA’s Checkpoint of the Future is for passengers to be able to get from curb to gate in a seamless and convenient process.
“For this, we need a risk-based approach to security powered by the enormous amount of data that we can and do collect on travellers.
“Combined with this will be technology that will allow most passengers to simply stroll through a checkpoint that can detect metal and harmful substances without stopping, stripping or unpacking.”
Tyler said technology already exists which could speed up security checks. New technology to reduce hold ups was also in development.
On the resilience of the industry, Tyler said that by 2004 - three years after the attacks in 2001 - airline revenues and traffic had surpassed pre-9/11 levels.
The industry returned to profitability by 2006, although by a “weak” 1.1% margin.
In the intervening five years, the industry also coped with SARS, more terrorist threats and rising oil prices.
He compared the impact of 9/11 when revenues fell by 6% to the global recession of 2009 when they dropped by 14%.
Ten years on, Tyler said that IATA expected airline revenue to reach $598bn this year compared with $307bn in 2001.
Airlines were also carrying 2.8bn passengers, a billion more than in 2001.