State to bear the cost of airport security

THE GOVERNMENT wants parliament to approve an extra half a million euros to cover the cost of hiring 112 police members to provide security for the island’s two new airports.

The ministers of justice and communications were at the House Finance Committee yesterday to push the point that it was in the public interest for the state to control security at the airports.

Communications Minister Nicos Nicolaou highlighted that airport security “for reasons of public interest should be fully controlled by state services and the police and not by any private organisation, either domestic or foreign”.

The government wants the supplementary budget of €459,764 to be voted in parliament this Thursday, said the minister. The budget is needed to create 112 new positions in the police force to cover the security needs of both new airports in Larnaca and Paphos until the end of the year. The police needs enough time to hire and train 112 new members so they may be ready to provide the necessary service to travellers by the time the new Larnaca Airport is due to open on November 11.

According to Nicolaides, there was a discussion of who would undertake airport security with the strategic investor of both airports, Hermes Airports Ltd, which led to the government deciding last April that the police would take on the security of both airports.

“The issue was that if Hermes took on airport security, they would put a levy on travellers. We believe now is not the time to be adding charges,” he said. “Security at the airports is a matter of public interest and should be handled by the state,” he added.

Hermes Chairman Nicos Shacolas told the Committee that the consortium had never said it would not take on security, but simply disagreed with the initial terms set out in the negotiations.

Shacolas said he accepted the government position that security was in the public interest, noting that Hermes was ready to cooperate with police in this endeavour. The consortium was also ready to negotiate if required in the future to take over security, as private companies have done in other European airports, including in Greece, he added.

The average annual cost for the 112 positions is estimated to be near €3 million, not including costs for uniforms, training, late shifts and other benefits.

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