Moscow blast leads to more checks at all airports

Boarding a plane will now take longer as more security checks are being put in place at airports across the country.

Boarding a plane will now take longer as more security checks are being put in place at airports across the country.

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You may be frisked or questioned even before you enter the passenger terminal and visitors will need to carry identity cards.

Following the January 24 terror strike at Moscow’s Domodedovo airport, which left 36 people dead, the civil aviation ministry has come up with a new plan to fortify airport security.

Security agencies have been told to install metal detectors outside terminal buildings and back them up with checks, using hand-held metal detectors.

“There are 21 layers of security checks from the moment a passenger arrives at the airport to the point when he boards the aircraft,” an official, who refused to be identified, told HT.

Surveillance is to be stepped up in the concourse area and random checks, even before passengers enter the terminal building, are planned.

Normally, at Indian airports, baggage screening and passenger frisking is done inside the terminal building.

“The strike at Domodedovo revealed various loopholes, which security agencies across the world are trying to cover,” the official said.

The Moscow suicide bomber blew himself up in the international arrival area. He entered unchecked as a visitor. The ministry is looking to plug this loophole. “A visitor’s pass will be issued only to those who produce an identity card,” the official said.