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Travelers told to get to airports earlier due to security delays
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AIRLINE passengers have been told to arrive earlier to catch their flights, following the introduction of stricter security checks at city airports.
Delays in getting through security saw 30 passengers with one airline miss flights from Shanghai yesterday.
Security staff are reported to be opening almost all items of hand luggage, with passengers asked to take out electronic devices and put these through scanning separately.
Shanghai Airports Authority has not issued a statement saying that tightened security has been introduced, although staff confirmed this to reporters.
No reason was given for these more stringent measures, although this comes weeks after a passenger carrying a knife tried to start a fire on a flight from Taizhou in neighboring Zhejiang Province.
As well as Shanghai’s Hongqiao and Pudong international airports, tighter controls have been introduced at airports elsewhere.
These are at airports in Tianjin in north China, Qingdao in east China’s Shandong Province, Xi’an in northwest China’s Shaanxi Province and Nanjing in neighboring Jiangsu Province, according to reports.
Shanghai-based Spring Airlines told its customers yesterday to ensure they arrive in plenty of time.
Almost all passengers will be asked to open hand luggage for inspection and must take out battery chargers and electronic devices from bags during security checks, Spring Airlines said.
And if electronic items are not removed from hand luggage, bags will have to go through a second time after these items are removed.
A Spring Airlines official said that some passengers were told to put umbrellas through the scanner separately.
“Passengers are advised to come to airports earlier, at least two hours before takeoff, as checks will take longer,” Spring Airlines press officer Mao Yi told Shanghai Daily.
While usually a passenger can pass through security check in 15 seconds, it will now take about a minute, said Mao.
Some 30 Spring Airlines passengers missed their flights yesterday after being delayed by security checks, in addition to 16 at the weekend, added Mao.
Air China’s Shanghai office confirmed yesterday that almost all of its passengers were asked to open their hand luggage for security checks.
While Shanghai Airports Authority issued no statement, a security official at Hongqiao International Airport said that more passengers at Shanghai’s airports will be asked to remove their shoes and belts at security and more will be subject to random checks.
A Spring Airlines passenger, surnamed Wan, said he almost missed his flight from Hongqiao after queuing for 20 minutes for the security check and then spending five minutes opening his hand luggage and removing his shoes.
There were no reports of heightened security at Shanghai’s railway stations.
“The city’s railway stations have yet to increase security checks,” Lin Ronggui, an officer with railway police said yesterday.
On July 26, a man tried to light a fire on a Shenzhen Airlines flight from Taizhou, as it about to land in Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport in southern China’s Guangdong Province.
The incident prompted questions over how the man managed to bring a knife, lighter and gasoline onto the aircraft.
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