Air travellers may have to get used to more expensive flights and longer delays if the Sinai plane crash leads to tighter security at airports, the UK foreign secretary has said.
If it is confirmed that a bomb brought down the Russian plane that broke up in midair after leaving Sharm el-Sheikh airport, there would have to be a review of security at all airports where Islamic State could strike and this would have an impact on passengers, Philip Hammond said on Sunday. This could potentially affect travel to many parts of north Africa or the Middle East.
In an interview on BBC1’s Andrew Marr Show, in which he also said that the remaining British tourists stranded in Sharm would be home within the next two or three days, Hammond said the focus of a review would be on raising airport security standards so they matched the highest in the world and that this was “absolutely doable”.
He said: “If this turns out to be a device planted by an Isil operative, or by somebody inspired by Isil, then clearly we will have to look again at the level of security we expect to see in airports in areas where Isil is active.
“We know that there are people in this country who would love to smuggle an explosive device onto airplanes, who would do it if it was possible. But, because our airport security is what it is, we’ve been remarkably successful for over 25 years in ensuring that nobody is able to get an explosive device on to a plane.”
A review would insist on ensuring that “airport security everywhere is at the level of the best”, he said. “Where there is a higher local threat level, that will mean higher levels of security are required, and that may mean additional costs. It may mean additional delays at airports as people check in.”
Hammond said the Department for Transport had aviation security experts who were constantly monitoring airport security around the world but that the Sinai crash made this especially urgent.
As the Observer reported, Egyptian airport and security officials have launched an investigation into all staff at Sharm el-Sheikh airport who came into contact with the Russian plane which crashed killing all 224 people on board, increasing speculation that a bomb may have been smuggled on to the aircraft.
This follows claims in the French media that the sound of an apparent explosion can be heard on the flight recorder of the Russian plane that crashed 23 minutes after leaving Sharm.
Hammond said that 3,300 British tourists who were stranded in the Egyptian resort after the UK government’s surprise decision to suspend flights on Wednesday had returned home, and that by the end of Sunday 5,000 should be back in Britain. Asked how long it would take to get everyone back to the UK, Hammond said: “What we are understanding is that at most people will experience a delay of two or three days.”
He said that he had spoken to the British ambassador to Egypt, John Casson, who had told him that generally the mood amongst Britons waiting to return home was calm. “People understand what is going on. They appreciate their safety is being put above all other considerations,” Hammond said.
Hammond said it was still the government’s view that it was “more likely than not” that a terrorist bomb was responsible for the Russian plane crash. He suggested this could open up the possibility of renewed cooperation between the west and Russia in relation to Syria and the fight against Isis.
“On this particular issue – Syria and Isil – we see eye-to-eye with the Russians on lots of things,” he said. “Our vision for a future Syria is broadly similar. The need to destroy Isil – the Russians completely agree with us. They have got a very large Muslim population in the Russian Federation, they are very alert to the risks of radicalisation.”
He said the main difference between Russia and the west was Russia’s continuing support for the Syrian president, Bashar al-Assad, remaining in office. He said: “What would be perfect would be if Mr Assad was to wake up one morning and decide that he didn’t want to do this job any more. The one person who has the power to persuade him that is in his country’s best interest is President Putin. I hope that at some point in this process he will decide to do that.”
