US orders body searches after botched airline attack

Sydney Morning Herald | December 28, 2009
SELMA MILOVANOVIC

Australians travelling to the United States should arrive at the airport one hour early to allow for body searches introduced in the wake of an airline bomb scare on Christmas Day.

New security measures introduced by the US Transport Security Administration for all flights into the US include pat-down searches at the airport gate, physical inspection of all bags and requiring passengers to stay in their seats without access to any personal items or overhead lockers for the final hour before landing.

"It's important that travellers travelling to the US get to the airport one hour earlier than they would otherwise," Federal Transport Minister Anthony Albanese said today.

The restrictions will be reassessed by US authorities before they expire on Wednesday.

Mr Albanese said he was confident about Australia's "world class" aviation security arrangements following the US terror scare, but said the Government was not ruling out further restrictions, subject to advice from security agencies.

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