Timely article:

B-G 'safer' than any European airport


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
JPost.com Staff, THE JERUSALEM POST Aug. 8, 2007

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Travelers consider Ben-Gurion Airport safer and more secure than any other European
airport, a report published by the International Airport Council (ACI) revealed.

Obtained by Army Radio on Wednesday, the report listed Amsterdam's Schipool Airport, Spata Airport in Athens, Charles de Gaulle in Paris, Fiumicino in Rome, Cointrin in Geneva, and London's Heathrow as also faring well with passengers' feelings of security.

The ranking came as officials in the Israel Airports Authority (IAA) prepared to modernize the security process at Ben-Gurion by employing a new cutting-edge computerized security check system.

The high-tech system will involve a scanner which will be connected to a national database. Tourists will have their passports and their hands scanned in order to verify their identity.

According to airport officials, the system is designed to prevent friction which often arises between security handlers and Arab tourists, as well as to prevent discrimination between Jews and Arabs.

"Our goal is to continue the process which the [Airport] Authority has focused on for many years," an airport official said. "We want to speed up [the security checks], and to implement technology that will utilize security check methods and technological equipment which are among the best in the world."

In related news, starting in September, Ben-Gurion Airport security will stop using color-coded stickers to differentiate between suitcases belonging to Jews and those of non-Jews, Transportation Minister Shaul Mofaz announced Tuesday.