Why are airport security checks different around the world?

score:11

Accepted answer

It is notionally due to the scanning technology, combined with differing laws. The basic luggage scanner is an X-ray machine. This produces a 2D image. It can be difficult to identify what is 'behind' dense materials like large batteries (as found in laptops). More advanced X-ray scanners are able to discern the density of materials. The most advanced luggage scanners, in use at London City and other some other airports, use CT scanning. This is able to produce a 3D image. Theoretically, if you are able to see in 3D the contents of a bag, there's no need to remove the contents of it. On the basis of these technological improvements, the UK government is encouraging operators to streamline airport security.

The other policy in other airports will be due to differing scanning technology and government policy.

Upvote:7

It's all security theater, with different decorations

Since 9/11 it became popular with politicians to compete against each other on who can come up with the most ridiculous airport security arrangements, as voters are irrational and treat terrorist attacks on air travel infrastructure much more seriously than any other terrorist attacks. As a result we now have to take off our shoes, can't take large bottles of water and have to take out laptops from our bags. It's not too different from how a circus in London might have clowns wearing a small red wig, while a circus in Singapore might have clowns wearing a giant blue wig. There's no logic behind any of it, so trying to analyze it logically will not succeed.

That being said, two changes since 9/11 have indeed been successful in preventing all future hijackings:

  1. The door to the pilots cabin is now bulletproof and impossible to unlock from the outside
  2. Passengers now know that they need to fight for their lives in case of a hijacking

Everything else is pointless and in an ideal world we'd be back to the security arrangements that we've had on September 10th 2001. But voters are irrational so this will likely never happen. The only two solutions are to avoid flying (though security theater is sadly expanding to other forms of transportation these days) or to use a private jet.

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