Travellers may face longer waits at airport security and more expensive ticket prices if investigations confirm that a bomb on board brought down a Russian airliner in the Sinai desert, the foreign secretary has warned.
All 224 passengers on board the Metrojet flight from Sharm el-Sheikh to St Petersburg were killed when the plane came down shortly after take off on 31 October.
Wilayat Sinai (Sinai Province), an umbrella name for the various IS-affiliated Islamist factions operating in the fraught Sinai peninsula, have repeatedly claimed responsibility for the attack. It is now believed that a bomb was smuggled into the plane's luggage hold.
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The incident raises questions about the effectiveness of airport security procedures in areas affected by terrorist groups. In the aftermath of the crash, a British couple claimed they had been approached in the same airport by a guard who let them bypass security in exchange for £20 – and an investigation by Al-Arabiya appears to show this is not an unusual occurrence. In one incident, a traveller reported that the guard manning the baggage scanner appeared to be playing Candy Crush on his mobile phone.
Foreign secretary Philip Hammond told the BBC this weekend that if it is confirmed that a terrorist bomb brought down the Metrojet flight, "clearly we will have to look again at the level of security we expect to see in airports in areas where Isil is active".
"What we have to do is ensure that airport security everywhere is at its best and that it reflects local conditions. One of the key issues about keeping airports safe is the training, management and motivation of staff."
Hammond said that enforcing better security standards in IS-affected areas might mean "additional costs" as well as "additional delays" for travellers.
