- The new body scanners are currently on trial at Manchester, but Heathrow will be the first to have them permanently. Picture: AP Photo/Cynthia Boll
JERSEY Airport officials will have the final say over whether full body scanners are to be introduced in the Island.
If such a scanner is brought in, it is likely that Islanders will have to pay more for airline tickets because fares may rise to cover the costs of the machine.
In the wake of the Christmas Day syringe bomb plot on a flight from Amsterdam to Detroit, UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown gave the go-ahead earlier this week for the £80,000 scanners to be implemented in UK airports.
But the politician in charge of Jersey’s aviation, Senator Paul Routier, said that Jersey Airport officials would make their own decision over whether to bring in the scanners.
‘We will have to make a judgment purely for Jersey,’ he said. ‘We have our own government and we can make our own decisions.’
Jersey Airport terminal and security services manager Steve Read said that the cost of the scanners could be passed on to airlines which may, as a result, increase their fares.
‘Some governments will pay for the scanners as part of border controls, but the British government and Jersey’s government take the view that the industry pays,’ Mr Read said.
‘The Airport will provide the service but the cost will be borne by the travelling public through an increase in security charges added to their ticket price.’
The scanners are currently on trial at Manchester Airport but Heathrow – the world’s busiest international airport – will be the first to have them permanently.
Their use has sparked controversy in the UK among child protection campaigners, who claim that the scanners amount to ‘virtual strip-searching’. They argue that the scanners threaten to breach child protection laws whereby any creation of an indecent or naked image of a child is a criminal offence.
Both Mr Read and Senator Routier said that at this stage, it was not known whether Jersey would need to operate a scanner because they may only be needed in airports which operate US-bound flights.
‘I cannot say yet if Jersey will get one,’ said Senator Routier. ‘It’s still early days. We will have to look at it. If they became an internationally accepted standard, then naturally we would follow suit.’
Full body scanners reveal naked images of passengers, including their genitals and even breast enlargements.
Passengers also pass through a metal detector check before they can board their plane.
Airport officials say that the scanner image is only seen by a single security officer in a remote location before it is deleted.
Although Gordon Brown has given the go-ahead for the scanners as a result of the Christmas Day bomb plot, experts claim that a full body scan would not have picked up the syringe bomb used by Umar Abdulmutallab.
Now that child protection campaigners have called for safeguards to protect the privacy of passengers, UK politicians may have to exempt under-18s from the scans or introduce new legislation to ensure that airport security staff do not commit offences under child pornography laws.
