Travellers using Manchester airport will not undergo compulsory full body scanning despite reports to the contrary.
The airport has moved to clarify a BBC story that said body scanning would be compulsory by the end of the month. A Manchester airport spokesman said there were only two scanners in Terminal 2 and one each in Terminals 1 and 3.
"It is not for everyone," he said. "You will only go through it if you set off the alarm and are in the lane where the scanner is."
Other passengers who set off alarms would receive the normal manual scan and ‘pat down', he said.
Body scanners were introduced at UK airports following the failed Christmas Day bombing attempt by a passenger on a Delta flight from Amsterdam to Detroit last year. However, the cost of the machines, around £80,000 each, and the time taken to scan each passenger, around 30 seconds, means airports will not fit them in every security channel.
www.manchesterairport.co.uk