B-G 'safer' than any European airport

ACI report published as airport security prepares to employ new hi-tech system.

ben gurion security 224 88 (photo credit: Ariel Jerozolimski)
ben gurion security 224 88
(photo credit: Ariel Jerozolimski)
Travelers consider Ben-Gurion Airport safer and more secure than any other European airport, a report published by the International Airport Council revealed. Obtained by Army Radio on Wednesday, the report listed Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport, Spata Airport in Athens, Charles de Gaulle in Paris, Fiumicino in Rome, Cointrin in Geneva and London's Heathrow as also faring well with passengers' feelings of security. The ranking came as officials in the Israel Airports Authority (IAA) prepared to modernize the security process at Ben-Gurion by employing a new cutting edge computerized security check system. The hi-tech system will involve a scanner that will be connected to a national database. Tourists will have their passports and their hands scanned in order to verify their identity. According to airport officials, the system is designed to prevent friction that often arises between security handlers and Arab tourists, as well as to prevent discrimination between Jews and Arabs. "Our goal is to continue the process which the [Airport] Authority has focused on for many years," an airport official said. "We want to speed up [the security checks], and to implement technology that will utilize security check methods and technological equipment which are among the best in the world." In related news, starting in September, Ben-Gurion Airport security will stop using color-coded stickers to differentiate between suitcases belonging to Jews and those of non-Jews, Transportation Minister Shaul Mofaz announced Tuesday.