AIRPORT SECURITY
With the threat of vehicle-related attacks on the rise, Gavin Hepburn, director at ATG Access, discusses best practice for airport security officials looking to upgrade their retrospective solutions
PROTECTING AIRPORTS AGAINST VEHICLE RAMMING ATTACKS I nternational airports unfortunately have been, and continue to be, a key target for acts of vehicle-related terrorism. This is largely due to the fact that airports have always had to remain as public spaces, accommodating both vehicle and pedestrian accessibility. Airports are classed as critical national infrastructure and so represent a severe blow to society, both economically and symbolically, if successfully attacked. Among the first recorded instances of such an act occurred in 2007, wherein a Jeep Cherokee – loaded with deadly explosives – was driven directly at the doors of Glasgow Airport and set ablaze. A far more recent example occurred in Lyon last September, when a man drove
a stolen car into the local airport’s terminal doors before speeding onto the runway. While casualties were minimised in these instances, there have been a string of similar vehicle-ramming incidents across a range of public spaces over the past decade. Vehicle attacks can cause major damage in a very short period of time, can come from virtually nowhere, and have thus become an increasingly common feature of violent terrorist acts throughout the West. Preventing this type of attack has therefore naturally become a key concern for security officials. However, the act of protecting airports is rather different to other public spaces, such as sports arenas or concert venues. After all, E
ISSUE 37 | COUNTER TERROR BUSINESS MAGAZINE
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