Security beefed up at island’s airports

AUTHORITIES have amped up security at Cyprus’ two airports following the botched attack of a Detroit bound airliner on Christmas day.
Umar Farouk Nigerian Abdulmutallab, 23, has been charged with attempting to blow up a Northwest Airlines jumbo plane as it approached Detroit on a flight from Amsterdam with almost 300 people on board.
Abdulmutallab was overpowered by passengers and crew after setting alight an explosive device attached to his body, and was later treated for burns.
As with airports around the world, normal measures at Larnaca have been expanded to include mobile armed patrols, tighter passenger checks and baggage screening, and all personnel related to airport security – police and private security firms –  have been instructed to be on a heightened state of alert.
“Increased vigilance is what we’re after,” said commander Costakis Soteriou, head of airport security.
For the first time since the new Larnaca terminal opened in November, two police officers armed with automatic assault rifles and pistols are patrolling the departures hall. The same applies to Paphos airport.
Soteriou said passenger and carry-on baggage controls have been doubled at passport control. A strict ban for carry-on baggage has been enforced for liquid containers of over 100g as well as containers with compressed powder; these items are only allowed for check-in baggage.
“Anything that is not allowed will be seized,” Soteriou said.
Police conduct a second baggage control at boarding gates, but for specific destinations. This applies to Aeroflot planes, and flights to Tel Aviv and Damascus.
Outside, a police car patrol monitors the roughly 20-km perimeter of the airport, and another is assigned to the runway and aircraft taxiing areas. On-foot patrols are also watching the fence 24/7. In addition, a stationary armed guard has been posted next to planes before and during embarkation for outbound flights to Damascus and Tel Aviv.
Despite the shortage of manpower, Soteriou said, the new measures would remain in place indefinitely.
Some global airlines, operating to the US have imposed restrictions such as a ban on unescorted toilet access, and a ban on passengers getting up from their seats for an hour before landing, or being allowed to have anything on their laps for the same period of time.

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.