HEATHROW AIRPORT NEWS - 04/01/2010

Full-body scanners at UK airports given green light by Brown

By James Wilson.

Prime minister Gordon Brown has given the go ahead for full-body scanners to be installed at the UK's airports.

It is thought that the machines, which will cost between £80,000 and £100,000, will be phased in gradually at a number of air travel facilities, having been trialled at Manchester Airport during 2009.

The British Airports Authority commented that it would install the scanners at its six airports, including London Heathrow, as soon as practically possible.

"It is our view that a combination of technology, intelligence and passenger profiling will help build a more robust defence against the unpredictable and changing nature of air terror threats," a spokesperson said.

The news comes after 23-year-old Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab was arrested after he was suspected to have been involved in a failed bomb plot on a flight bound for Detroit.

Gordon Brown commented that the machines are able to detect explosives that older scanners cannot.

Passengers travelling from the UK to the US are currently being advised that they will be subject to pat-down searches and will only be allowed to take one piece of carry-on luggage on board their flight.

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