Heathrow Airport Security

Heathrow airport security

Introduction

Heathrow Airport is located within the London borough of Hillingdon and is one of seven airports owned by the BAA. It is one of the busiest international airports in the world and handles in excess of 68 million passengers and 450,000 aircraft movements as well as employing over 80,000 staff. The combined affect of the opening of Terminal 5 in 2008 and a third runway in 2015 will mean that passenger throughput is likely to increase to 100 million. Additionally the airport receives over 12 million other visitors and more than 20 million motor vehicles travel into the central terminal area in the course of the year. London City Airport is located on the Royal Victoria Dock, within the London Borough of Newham. The airport has one terminal building, operates a single runway and was opened in May 1987. (Woodley, 2002)

The airport employs approximately 1,400 staff and has a throughput of 2 million passengers every year, accommodating some 80,000 aircraft movements. The role of the Metropolitan Police is to keep both Heathrow Airport and London City Airport safe to the travelling public, staff and visitors. We do this in partnership with other law enforcement agencies such as the United Kingdom Borders Agency (UKBA) and the Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA). Aviation Security is an armed OCU, which means that many of our officers do carry firearms although there are several other departments within the airport where officers do not carry firearms as part of their day-to-day work. (Woodley, 2002)Both Airports have a dedicated team of officers within the terminals to deal with local issues; they are our Safer Airport Teams. Aviation Security together with the rest of the Metropolitan Police values your feedback and have Citizen Focus at the heart of our services that we deliver.

Explanation

There are reports of a security incident taking place at Heathrow airport in the UK. The reports state that the incident is upon an Emirates plane bound for Dubai. Sky News reports from their correspondent that armed security officers boarded the Dubai-bound plane at around 8 pm this evening. It's reported that as the plane was taxiing on the runway for take-off when it's alleged two passengers made a verbal threat which then led to flight being aborted and police being called. One passenger, Cameron McLean, said the police swarmed the plane and then led a man off in handcuffs. He said, "Police just swarmed the guy and rushed him out. I think he was a white male. There was another one but I didn't see him." He also said that sniffer dogs were then brought onto the plane. One airport spokesman said, "I can confirm there has been an incident on the EK004 flight to Dubai. Police are attending. It's not affecting the rest of the airport which remains opens." BBC News reports that there have been two arrests but no other passengers were removed from the plane. (Woodley, 2002)

The other passengers remained on the plane ...